USC 27 Washington 24

It's Saturday morning, and we have a great slate of Pac Ten games going on this weekend. The marquee game is California at Oregon followed by USC at Washington. UCLA takes on Oregon State also and that should be a good game if the Beavers can stop turning the ball over.

The PI's take on Husky Stadium

It has been an interesting week concerning the football program in the media. The PI sports staff all expressed their opinions concerning Husky Stadium. Art Thiel wants it moved down the street toward University Village. The PI Editorial Staff wants it torn down with future games played at QWest. Dan Raley gives us the history of the stadium, a tour of current conditions inside, and a good look at the makeup of the stadium committee. Ted Miller talks about the need of a Sugar Daddy, and good old Jim Moore takes a swipe at the 1961 Rose Bowl team.

The PI really isn't anti Husky even though you have too many Cougars on the staff, they are however like any other branch of the media tired of the cold shoulder they get when trying to cover the team. UW needs friends right now if they are going to get this done.

I think the UW would just kill the program if they moved the games downtown, and the UW knows that. The current Turner led plan is an excellent idea, and deserves the full support of the community. Husky games on the shores of Montlake is a tradition that needs to be preserved for the next 100 years, and this is the best way to accomplish that. Stay tuned as they start a program to raise money for the initial stages.

Meamber

Art then caps it all off with a very long story on the life of Tim Meamber. Tim of course became prominent again when he was interviewed by Dawgman's Derek Johnson after the Ohio State game. That interview set off a bit of a controversy in the Husky community because it attacked the current Husky defensive staff's coaching credibility. Art responds with an article which explains why I was hesitant to jump on the Meamber bandwagon with both feet firmly planted. I will leave it at that.

Husky Weather

As for today's game the Trojans are overwhelming favorites, and the Huskies best chance to win this game is with turnovers. Temperatures at gametime are going to be in the low 50's/high 40's, and it most likely will be raining. Wind will also be a factor as they expect gusts coming from the Southwest at 10-20 mph which can create a swirling effect in the stadium.

This is Husky Weather, and if there is one thing the Trojans hate to play in it is cold, rain, mixed with swirling winds. Historically teams have come up from LA, and have been derailed on days like this. USC has one flaw, and that is turnovers, weather like this promotes turnovers. Weather like this also can play havoc with a guy by the name of John David Booty.

I think the crowd will really be into this game. The late start means 4 1/2 hours more of tailgating. The throwback jersey's, Jim Owens, and the ceremonies honoring the 1960 Husky football team is going to stir up some emotions. I am not coming out saying that there is going to be an upset today, but the weather is cooperating, and the crowd should be extra loud, and emotional for this one.

USC LB Keith Rivers may be out of this one after suffering an injury in practice this week. that would mean that all three starting USC LB's may miss this game. No determination on Rivers official status till kickoff. Three LB's and two CB's out? I like that when that happens.

California 31 Oregon 24

The Ducks came out to start the game on defense, and just shut the Bears down. It's still early, but I think Oregon is going to kill these guys. Scoreless midway through the first quarter, but it will heat up. First quarter ends with Oregon leading 3-0. 10- 3 at the half in a surprising defensive struggle so far. Both teams are moving the ball, but neither are putting it in the endzone much. Expect that to change in the third quarter. Oregon has held Cal to 23 yards rushing.

Bears draw first blood in the second half and seem to have it going. 10-10 midway through the third quarter. Ducks answer on the next possession with a 42 yard Dixon to Colvin strike. 17-10 Ducks.

Cal answers quickly on the next drive, and the track meet is on....17-17 as the 4th quarter starts. Cal gets the ball back in good field position and drives again goes up 24-17 after a fantastic DeSean Jackson recepetion, and run with the ball. There isn't anyone else like Jackson in the conference. Oregon fumbles the return, and it is really going to hurt, Cal is about to blow it open. Oregon dodges the bullet with a great defensive stand pushing the Bears out of field goal range with 10:16 to go. Cal has outgained UO 240-99 in the second half so far.

Oregon puts together a ninety yard drive and ties it back up 24-24. Nice series by Dixon. Cal's Nate Longshore goes down with a leg injury, looks like he will be back next series. Cal's next drive stalls, and they have to punt. Oregon throws an interception on the first play to O'Dea product Anthony Felder. Longhore comes back, and Cal scores the go ahead TD to go ahead 31-24. Oregon starts from their own 30 with 3 minutes left. Stewart rips off a 23 yard run against a tired Cal defense. Dixon throws another interception deep in Cal territory, and the Ducks are going to go down at home to Cal. Still a little time, but the Ducks have to burn all their timeouts and stop the Bears to get the ball back. Oregon has one last shot with 1:45 left. Oregon is inside the Cal ten yard line with 22 seconds to go. Oregon is at the goal line, and Cameron Colvin fumbles it out of bounds, and it is ruled a touchback which means Cal regains possession at the twenty, and holds on to win the game. Tough loss for the Ducks.

Penn State Upset By Illinois

Illinois knocked off Penn State 27-20 today in what is the upset of the day so far. Ron Zook has that program headed in the right direction. Of course if you ask opposing Big Ten coaches they will say that direction is probation.

Colorado Upsets Oklahoma 27-24

Dan Hawkins teams rallies to win the game on a last second field goal. Nice to see that he is having a better second year in Boulder. A signature win for Dan Hawkins.

Kansas State upsets Texas 41-21

The Longhorns have been on and off this year, and today they were completely off.

UCLA 40 Oregon State 14

The Beavers put together a nice drive and score first early, 7-0 OSU. The Beavers have moved out to a 14-3 lead in the second quarter. 14-6 OSU at the half. 14-12 in the third quarter. UCLA scored 21 points in the 4th quarter and now leads 33-14.

Arizona 48 WSU 20

Willie Tuitama threw for five touchdowns and freshman Nicolas Grigsby rushed for 186 yards in his second Arizona start, leading the Wildcats to a 48-20 victory over Washington State tonight.

Arizona State 41 Stanford 3

Rudy Carpenter threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Rudy Burgess late in the second quarter and Omar Bolden returned an interception for a score on the next play from scrimmage to lead the 23rd-ranked Sun Devils to a 41-3 victory over Stanford on Saturday night.

Southern Cal 27 UW 24

The Huskies receive and drive the length of the field only to have it intercepted at the Trojan five yard line. Just a bad read by Locker. USC throws an interception, and UW is back in business. USC has three personal fouls in the first quarter. Locker is on fire early, he is very accurate from the get go. USC stops them, and forces them to punt which will give SC the long field to work with. The first quarter ends scoreless, and UW has all the style points so far.

UW and USC exchange punts at the start of the second quarter. USC is still backed up at the Husky 15. USC fumbles and UW takes over at the Trojan 15! Locker runs it in and it is 7-0 UW. USC then marches down the field and scores after Mesphin Forrester bites on play action, 7-7 midway through the second quarter. CB Shareece Wright is now out for USC. UW is driving again and things are clicking on offense. USC get it's 4th personal field. Lots of USC cheap shots tonight. UW pins back USC inside the twenty again which is probably the best type of defense we can play.

USC puts together a long drive from the Husky 15, and takes it to the UW 17. The Huskies are stopping the run, but not the pass. USC witht he aid of a UW personal fouls competes the drive and puts it in the endzone. 14-7 USC with 4:15 left. UW takes the ball goes 3 and out and has to give the ball back to SC with plenty of time left in the half. USC starts at their own 39. USC is attacking the middle and trying to stretch the field. UW's Forrester intercepts, and takes it to the house and ties the score at 14-14!!! We have ourselves a ballgame!

USC rips off a 53 yard run to the Husky five. UW holds, and on 4th down the USC FG team has to come out. 17-14 USC with 16 seconds left, and it ends like that.

Great first half!

USC starts at their own 15. USC drives methodically down the field, and the UW defense is bending way too much. USC has third and long from the 29, and gets a holding call. Third and 21 from the Husky 39. USC hits a short pass to settle for the field goal, and they miss it!

UW takes over from their own 16. This drive could set the tone for the rest of the evening as the Huskies go 3 and out. Locker over thre a guy on 3rd and 2, not the best call. USC takes over after the punt at their own 40. USC gets a nice run after the pass on a third down, too bad, it was stopped. They are driving again. USC is down to the UW 30. SC gets another holding penalty. Booty hits Davis to the Husky 1 on a 33 yard gain...wow. USC uses the TE. USC drives it into th endzone. USC 24-14.

Rankin rips off a 24 yard drive to start the next drive. Jake faces a third and 12 as USC starts to shut down the passing game. Huskies have to punt, and back the Trojans up to the eight. Trojans go 3, and out. Trojans run into the returner and draw another penalty. UW starts at the 43. Locker drives them for a first down, but the Huskies lose a few on the next play but recover their own fumble. 24-14 USC heading into the 4th quarter.

Huskies pick up a great break as Taylor Mays commits pass interference. Huskies have the ball on the Trojan 27. Holding wipes out a big play. Another pass interference call on USC. This is a time consuming penalty sustained drive. UW settle for the FG. 24-17. USC with plenty of time left in the 4th quarter. USC is letting the underdog hang around way too long. USC gets sacked on the first play for a big loss. USC goes 3 and out!

UW starts out at their own 36 with lots of time left down only 7. UW has to punt after a couple of gains. USC's defense is not missing tackles. USC starts again from their own 15. USC goes 3 and out again. UW is disrupting them. Russo fumbles the punt return....no idea what he was trying to do there....just fair catch it at midfield.

SC starts out at UW 45. They end up with a third and 3. UW has them stopped but four missed tackles allows a first down. USC bangs it on down to the Husky 20. UW's Davenport intercepts the ball in the endzone. The play is under review because after further review Davenport trapped the ball. USC sends in the FG team. USC hit, it and leads 27-17....wow have they dodged a bullet. So close but yet so far in the final minutes of the 4th quarter. Hell of an effort by the Dawgs tonight.

Rankin gets a nice return to midfield. Locker takes over, and hits Russo for a very nice gain to the Trojan 35, then he is sacked at the 40. Huskies decide to go for it on 4th and 16 with 2:17 to go. Locker hits a big gainer to the USC five, but it is called back because Locker went over the line. So USC takes over and tries to run out the clock but ends up going 3 and out.

UW blocks the USC punt and returns it to the USC 10. Huskies throw a quick out to Reese at the 2. Locker takes it to the one, than they score the TD!!!

USC 27 UW 24 with 34 seconds left.

Huskies line up for the onside kick, and it is unsuccesful.

USC just has to run the clock out, and escape Seattle.

Weekly Predictions

I went 7-4 last weekend, and I am 36-14 on the year so far. UW, Bama, Penn St, and Oregon State let me down last week.

It is big game time for the Pac Ten with two marquee games back to back on Saturday.

USC at Washington

USC turnovers are the only thing that will keep this one close. Look for the Trojans to score early and often if they don't stop themselves. If UW pulls an upset off it will be epic, and what a great weekend to do it with Jim Owens, and the 1961 Rose Bowl team in town for a celebration. UW is the best team the Trojans have faced this year so far, and the Huskies haven't played as well as they can play in the second half the last two weeks. It will take four quarters, and a whole lot of luck this week.

California at Oregon

I have to go along with the oddsmakers and pick the Ducks this week. Both teams have problems on defense, and the Ducks let Stanford scare them a bit last week after they gave them the short field with turnovers. Oregon just seems like a more complete team at this point, and Cal never wins at Autzen.

UCLA at Oregon State

The question I have is how many turnovers combined will come out of this game? The team that self destructs the least will win, and I am picking UCLA because Canfield has been awful.

Arizona State at Stanford

The Devils will have no problem with the improving Cardinal. all they have to do is hold on to the ball and grind it out. Stanford did give Oregon a scare last weekend and is an improved team.

WSU at Arizona

I think the Cougars will score all day on the Wildcats. The Coug defense while terrible is good enough to hold the terrible UA offense down enough to get the win.

National Games

The biggest games of the week are out West, but this is how the rest of the country stacks up.

Auburn at Florida

A tough SEC game but I give the edge to the Gators at home. No upset for the Tigers this year.

Michigan State at Wisconsin

Both teams are undefeated, but I give a big edge to Wisconsin at home in this one.

Clemson at Georgia Tech

Tech is 2-2, but a real fine football team at this point, I pick them to upset Clemson in this one. I expect both to contend with BC for the ACC title at the end of the year.

Penn State at Illinois

The Lions are smarting after an unexpected loss to Michigan last week. Illinois is off to a good start, and should be bowl bound this year, but they won't beat Penn State.

Notre Dame at Purdue

A 0-5 start for Notre Dame? Yes, and it might be 0-8 before it starts to turn around when the schedule softens. Joe Tiller and his 4-0 bunch are going to jump all over the Irish. they love it in West Lafayette when they send the Irish home with their tails between their legs. this will be one of those games.

UW / USC Matchups

Quarterback - UW - You have the Heisman candidate surrounded by a bevy of stars surrounded by the future Heisman candidate surrounded by mere mortals. I take Locker for one reason, and that is foot speed, and rushing. He is going to need the foot speed to avoid the Trojan rush, and his rushing ability is always good for around 80 yards per game. USC if you remember had a tough time containing Stanback last year.

Running Backs - USC - The Trojans have eight guys in their stable who would be starting at UW this year. Chancey Washington is the main man, and not the most talented of the group. Fumbles are a problem with these guys, and if anything can keep UW in the game it is turnovers.

Wide Receivers - USC - The Huskies actually match up well when they hold onto the ball but they haven't done that lately. Booty is obviously the more accurate passer, and the Trojan wideouts have a lot more speed. I have to take the Trojans since the husky receivers have been in a slump, and their QB has been less than accurate.

Tight Ends - USC - Does UW even have any TE's anymore? Did you hear about the rumor of Kirton moving to DE next year? Kirton to me has been a waste at RB, and TE, the kid should have been a DE from the get go.

Offensive Line - USC - It's not even close on paper. UW OL's were on their back all last weekend, and now they go up against the best DL in the country.

Defensive Line - USC - USC starts a NFL draft pick at each position. Sedrick Ellis is a monster, a future #1 pick in the NFL draft. Can you say Steve Emtman? He has that ability.

Linebacker - USC - The Trojans have two starting LB's out for this game and even with that going on after the abysmal display by the Husky LB's last week I have to go with USC. UW could rally this week at this position, and prove me wrong.

Defensive Backs - USC - The Trojans have three guys who were slated to start this week at the beginning of the year out for the game, but you could have 6-7 out and they would still have more talent than the Huskies, or just about any other Pac Ten team in the defensive backfield.

Special Teams - USC - When you have this much talent stockpiled you have to get them out on the field. Great depth, speed and talent makes great special teams. Fresh fast guys going up against tired less talented guys later in the game really gives SC the edge. As far as punting, and placekicking goes it is actually pretty even. I don't have a lot of problems with Ballman, and Perkins at this point. Ballman will bounce back from last week at home.

Washington vs USC Preview

Washington faces off against USC at Husky Stadium in a nationally televised 5 pm game on ABC. Washington took the Trojans to the last tick of the clock last year on the road, and are hoping they can finish the deal this year at home. Both teams are improved from last year, but the growth curve is much sharper at USC.

When Washington has the ball

Washington needs a much better performance this week to stick with the high flying Trojans. That will be a tough order to fill against one of the nations top defenses. UW needs to find a way to get their running game going, and also heat up Jake Lockers throwing arm in the first quarter. Last weeks performance by Locker in the fourth quarter could be an omen of things to come.

USC is going to do what the past three opponents have tried to do, and that is shut down the Washington running game and pinch the corners so Locker can't get lose. USC has an incredible defensive line led by Sedrick Ellis, and Center Juan Garcia is going to have to play the best game of his career to keep him under control. USC relies on the front 3-4 to get pressure on the quarterback while the linebackers have contain responsibilities. The line is so good that he LB's can just sit back, and play cleanup, while the DB's concentrate on stopping the pass. USC despite losing two of it's starting CB's still has one of the best defensive backfields in the country. Free safety Taylor Mays is just a freak. The kid has the size of an inside linebacker, but possesses 4.25 speed.

UW needs to be different this week despite Lappano's vow to simplify things. UW must give the Trojans some looks that they haven't seen on tape yet to keep them on their toes. That means some misdirection, and stretching the field early with the passing game to open up running plays for Locker, and Rankin. The TE's have been absent all year, but plays over the middle are going to be there for the very brave.

TE's, and Fullbacks are remarkable stealth weapons, because the Trojans focus won't be on them. Problem is Washington is using them to block to make up for deficiencies in the offensive line. UW desperately needs to get them integrated in the game plan this week.

Jake Locker hasn't been a fast starter this year when it has come to passing the ball. One reason has been the placement of his feet which has resulted in some high, or inaccurate throws. The other reason is he is just amped up when he hits the field in the first quarter. UW needs to find a away to get him some high percentage tosses early. The Huskies can't be in early third, and long situations this week if they want to compete four quarters. Louis Rankins needs to pick up some yards.

When USC has the ball

USC does everything well currently on offense. Booty is a Heisman candidate type QB who has improved quite a bit from last season, and he is surrounded be a stable of former HS All American running backs and wide receivers. In front of him is one of the best offensive lines on the country.

The Trojan RB's can't be brought down with the type of tackling UW had last week. They love to hit, and spin to break tackles. They also don't get tired as the game goes on because Carroll can rotate up to eight All Americans at you all day. Stripping the ball is key because while this group is talented, they have a tendency to leave it on the turf.

The Trojans are going to come at the Huskies with a lot of balance, letting their athletes take over, and make plays. USC has no problem starting fast, and they have buried all three of their opponents in the first half this year. USC is going to try to stretch the field from the get go and test the Husky cornerbacks. SC looks at this game as a stepping stone for bigger games down the road, and they want to take a big step maturing their offense for those big upcoming tests.

USC does have one weakness, and that is a propensity to turn the ball over. It hasn't hurt them yet because they have been able to overwhelm each opponent, but it can be an equalizer against a quality opponent such as Oregon, California, or LSU. USC is still young on offense, and finding their way. If UW can force turnovers that turn into scores they may be able to surprise the Trojans.

Willingham said that "we probably had as many missed tackles as we've had in a while. That showed up in some of the big plays, that was part of the kickoff return, the long run. We had some opportunities to make that play and we didn't make them, and we've got to put them in a great place structurally as a coach.'' UW needs to do a much better job of preparing their players this week.

Washington needs to get pressure on the QB, and take advantage of turnover opportunities. No more dropped interception opportunities. You hang on to one last year and UW beats USC. Most importantly they need to do a better job than they did last week against the rushing game. If a crippled UCLA team can put up 41 points on Washington just think what USC is capable of?

Intangibles

Washington will be honoring it's 1960 National Championship team at halftime which will fire up the crowd going into the third quarter. Hopefully it will fire up the players. I am talking the 18-20 year old players, not the 65 year old players.

USC linebacker's Chris Galippo, and Brian Cushing will be sitting this one out with injuries. USC CB's Cary Harris, and Vincent Joseph are also likely to sit the game out. Safety Josh Pinkard is out for the second season in a row. USC isn't as banged up as UCLA, but they have some problems here, and there that will limit what they can do.

John David Booty, on whether USC has a go-to receiver."(David Ausberry) the other day, he made catches," Booty said. "They're all really talented. We were not doing a whole lot with the passing game. We haven't opened it up like last season."

Carroll admitted being concerned about USC's turnover ratio.``It's not the way I'd like. If I knew (how to end it), I'd stop it,'' he said.

Washington coach Ty Willingham on USC.“Honestly, I don’t know if there is a lot more that can be added to their resume. Obviously, they are a very good football team and at the top of the national polls this year, last year and it seems like almost forever now. They play very well. They play very aggressive. They are well-coached. It is a good football team.”

Willingham said the three-way battle at the one CB spot (Mosley, Davenport, McDowell) will be looked at all week before a decision is made. I'd assume Davenport to start but that it will be officially a game time decision.

Ken Baer said he thought all five of the bad UCLA plays were "very correctable. ... I think it was kind of a mental lapse for whatever reason. ... I just think it was almost to a point where you watched it and it was like 'I'm shocked.' But those things happen. The more veteran you are as a football team, we are veteran with our down four but not real veteran everywhere else, those mistakes come way less probably. And it's not just one guy, it's across the board. Maybe that's good news and bad news, I don't know.''

We hear tailback C.J. Gable is scheduled to get some carries against Washington on Saturday (no promises). By the way, USC coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday he still did not know who would start against the Huskies. Our hunch says Chauncey Washington.

"Jake Locker has just lit it up for a redshirt freshman -- as good a first showing, first four or five games, as a guy could have," Carroll said. "They know they have a great one in this kid. He's not a normal freshman out there playing."

Keith Rivers practiced at strongside linebacker Tuesday with Brian Cushing out. Rivers job will likely be to shadow Jake Locker. Rivers is rated as the top OLB in the country. If he gets hurt USC fans don't have to worry because the guy behind is probably almost as good.

"We're probably going to give Louis some rest time a little bit," offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said Tuesday. "With who, right now, I don't know. But I will say that we will probably have a little different rotation in there".

"We're still a very young offensive football team that's trying to figure things out," USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said. "Outside of the quarterback (John David Booty) and the left tackle (Sam Baker), we're still a very young offensive team.

Tim Lappano comments that throwing deeper more at the end of the UCLA game was in part of a result of added confidence in QB Jake Locker to make those throws and that the success doing that could mean more of those types of plays this week. "That's the kid growing, that's growth, me trusting him to make some of those types of lower percentage throws,'' Lappano said. "If you're throwing it in practice, then you're able to throw them in the game, if not then you are reluctant to let loose with some of that stuff. We're seeing some pretty good throws in practice.''

Why Washington will win

Washington will in if USC self destructs, and turns over the ball giving the Husky offense a short field all day. UW proved they could move the ball on USC last year, but they have to take advantage of all their opportunities in the red zone.

You need to root for USC to come out flat, over confident, and be overwhelmed by the noise of Husky Stadium. The Trojans are still young, and this is a game they are possibly overlooking.

Locker needs to hit the big plays early this week just like he did in the fourth quarter against UCLA. He also needs some early help with his running game so Washington isn't always facing third and long. UW needs to show the Trojans something new, something tricky, something they haven't see yet on film.

Washington's special teams need to step up this week. I can't remember when Washington last won a special teams battle. Washington needs to win the special teams battle against a deep team with much better athletes. No more fumbles, blocked FG's, and long returns please!

Defensively the Huskies must control the run, and they can't afford to give up big plays. Booty is the straw that stirs the drink for the Trojan offense. The Huskies need to get into the Trojan backfield, and pressure him into mistakes. Booty is quite average when he is running for his life.

Why USC will win

USC will win by simply being USC.

The Washington offense will have a lot of trouble with the Trojan defense which means the Husky defense will be out on the field too much, just like last week. Washington will put up a fight, but USC will wear them down as the game goes on as they rotate in an out their bevy of All American players.

USC is going to go for the throat early, and that means they are going to go long against our cornerbacks and stretch the field. A big key to the game will be our ability to stop the long ball. USC doesn't like the underdog to stay around too long, they have seen all the film of Washington they need to see, so don't expect them to wait like UCLA, and Ohio State did. USC will strike first, deep, and often.

USC simply has the best collection of athletes in the country, and while you may be able to stay with them for a half they don't get tired, they are deep, and they know how to win. You are talking about a team that possibly has 30-40 future NFL players on it's roster. One look at the current UW roster reveals maybe 4-5. Of those 4-5 how many are seniors?

What do I think?

I think we are going to have a problem keeping USC under 50 points. This edition of USC is not only one of the best teams in the country, but it may be one of the top five teams of the decade. The Trojans Achilles heal is turning the ball over, and they will have to do that quite a bit to keep the Huskies in the game.

USC has an outstanding defense, but I think Locker and company will find a way to put some points on the board to make it respectable, but as the game goes on USC will just wear the Huskies out.

All that being said I am pretty sure Washington is the best team the Trojans have played so far this year, and they never play all that well in Husky Stadium. Upsets do happen, but I think this Husky team, and especially Jake Locker are a little too young to do it this year. As I said earlier in the week if we can come out of this one respectable, and healthy it will go a long way in determining our record at the end of the season.

I am predicting USC to win 44-21, but I am also predicting a close first half with the Huskies still in the game when they hit the field for the third quarter. What Washington does in that third quarter is going to determine the final outcome.

Do the Huskies even have a chance? Sure they do, they were a play, or two away from beating these guys last year on the road last season. Stanback had his way with these guys last year, and Jake has the potential to do it again this year. This could also be a week that a young USC team has an emotional let down of sorts on the road. It happens to the very best of teams.

Pac Ten Alley

Welcome to hump day once again as we contemplate our fate as we start to head downhill into the weekend. USC is coming to town, and that is a scary thought to me because their defense might be a lot better than the one we faced against Ohio State a couple of weeks ago. I have just a couple of wishes going into this game. Those wishes are for Jake Locker to stay healthy, for the Huskies to throw down field, and over the middle earlier this week to give their offense a chance. A little misdirection wouldn't be bad either.

Nathan Ware of the PI Dawgblawg, and I are going to start collaborating together here, and at the PI on an article or two per week. We really are just at the searching for the common ground stage right now, but having two writers will make it easier on both of us, and it should make for more entertaining reading for all of you. We all go on vacation, we all need a break, so I think the idea of two laptops are better than one is pretty valid. Since we are independent bloggers we aren't edited by anything other than our own moods, and conscience. Having an extra voice will help us do a better job in that area too.

If you read the Dawgblawg you will realize that Nathan is an excellent football analyst, and writer. His PI blog today deals with the conscience of blogging, and I think he makes some great points.

Since seeing Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy blow up on a media member at a weekend press conference, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the subject: What do we have the right to say? It's a topic I think about every time I write a blog post but Gundy's rant really touched a nerve with me. It was perfect timing, too, because I felt like getting on the keyboard and doing a world-class rant of my own after the Dawgs melted down in the Rose Bowl Saturday night. I had some less than nice things to say about Kent Baer, the UW offensive line, both of our starting safeties, and whoever is responsible for the kick coverage that is driving me to go visit Pat O'Day at my local rehabilitation facility.

Pac Ten Alley

Now it's time to take a walk down the coast to see what the neighbors are up to.

We start the week off with USC. The rich are only getting richer as a JC recruit the Huskies really covet is likely headed to USC, or Cal. As for the game with Washington the Trojan faithful are approaching it with a big yawn.

Carl Moore, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound five-star wide receiver from Sierra Junior College in Rocklin, Calif., has decided he will officially visit USC on Oct. 6 for the Stanford game, instead of going to LSU that weekend.

Always one to joke, Coach Carroll began his weekly press conference this afternoon by parodying the weekend blowup of Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. While approaching his seat at the press conference, Carroll scowled while holding a newspaper before he threw it down in phony anger.

ASU is still celebrating the unlikely win over Oregon State last weekend,

Oregon State: Nobody in Corvallis realizes how much they're going to miss departed QB Matt Moore. He was the heart and soul of the team that beat USC and I don't expect them to be in fighting shape by week four.At this time I’d like to toot my own horn and point out that I totally called this game... in July. Did they miss Moore? F%$*in’ A right they did, to the tune of FIVE interceptions and a few more almost-picks. Oregon State got away from their gameplan after the Devil D stopped RB Yvenson Bernard a few times and Canfield started churning out interceptions like free candy flowing from a van without windows.

The Ducks will be hosting the game of the week, and ESPN is coming to Eugene. Let's hope the classy Oregon fans will give them the typical, and classy Duck welcome.

It's official, ESPN Gameday will be in Eugene for the Cal game this Saturday. It was just announced on the local news stations, the location of the set is to be determined no later than tomorrow afternoon.

When senior wide receiver Brian Paysinger went down for the season with a knee injury last Thursday, it was a serious blow to No. 11 Oregon (4-0 overall, 1-0 Pacific-10 Conference) as it lost one its most seasoned and explosive players. Paysinger was the one who caught the winning touchdown catch against Oklahoma last year. He's the one who hauled in an 85-yard touchdown in the 39-7 win against Michigan. He led the team with 165 receiving yards before last week's 55-31 win over Stanford. "That was just a horrible loss," right tackle Geoff Schwartz said. "Brian is one of our great receivers and he's a great guy and it was tough for him to go out like that." For the fellow wide receivers, the loss stings even more. "We felt like we lost a family member when he got hurt," Garren Strong said. While the Ducks will miss his production and positive attitude on the field, fortunately for Oregon, it has enough talent to offset the loss of a starting wide receiver.

At Arizona they are using poise, and Mike Stoops in the same sentence. It won't be long till they use Mike Stoops and unemployed in the same sentence.

If Arizona is going to fight and crawl its way out of the doldrums then it needs to keep its poise.
Usually it is the coach talking about players when poise becomes an issue, not the other way around. But it was UA defensive tackle Lionel Dotson bringing up the more relaxed Mike Stoops on the sidelines against Cal. “I like how coach Stoops handled his poise,” Dotson said. “He showed poise. I think everybody on the team respected that. That is what we want to see. That was good.”

Next up for Oregon State is UCLA. I wonder how many turnovers the two teams combined will make?

I think that we have our work cut out for us. UCLA is very talented. I think it Is one of the best defensive teams in the Pac-10. Last year they played some outstanding defense. Of course we played them and they did a pretty good job against us and they appeared to just get better. They have 10 starters returning, so we have our work cut out for us there. They have also been running the ball extremely well offensively. They have also been very balanced. So they had their one clunker against Utah but besides that they have played good football, really rebounded and played a very good game against the Huskies last week

California goes into the Oregon game as 5 1/2 point underdogs.

Cal opened the week as a four-and-a-half point underdog, and as of Tuesday, the Ducks were five-and-a-half point favorites. But a few of the Bears players don’t mind the low expectations. “That’s good,” linebacker Worrell Williams said. “We like to think that we’re a team that is confident and explosive. To come into a game ranked higher than them and still be the underdogs gives us a little extra something to fight for.” One reason for the unfavorable odds may be the fact that Cal has not won in Autzen Stadium since 1987. Under coach Jeff Tedford, the Bears have been involved in tightly contested games, losing 21-17 in 2003 and dropping an overtime decision 27-20 in 2005. “We’ve had a chance to win up there both times we’ve gone up there,” Tedford said. “Twenty year streaks and stuff like that has nothing to do with these guys—some of these guys weren’t even born 20 years ago. It’s about this year. That’s what counts.”

WSU is licking it's wounds after being dominated by USC.

Don't you just love Pete Carroll? High School Harry, as they call him, but that genuine enthusiasm is infectious. Look at all the talent he gets on a yearly basis, just so much talent in the pipeline it's amazing, and yet all those kids play their butts off for him. He's got "open" Wednesdays in practice, where literally all jobs are up for grabs and the players fight like hell. On Fridays he's got the lineman vs. lineman game, wherever they are, and the only rule is no running plays. I know the Reggie Bush scandal, I know about the Matt Lienart - Dwayne Jarrett free rent deal, but they are the teflon program right now.

Hawaii slipped by Charleston Southern and Colt Brennan has recovered.

Stephen Tsai writes about the injuries to Colt Brennan and Blaze Soares, who both plan to play this weekend, Jason Rivers, who may not, and Ryan Mouton, who had an MRI done on his knee and feels good about his chances to play. On the other hand, freshman safety Le'Marcus Gibson looks to be done for the year due to an ACL injury:

Syracuse had the upset of the week knocking off Louisville.

The State of the Orange has a much sunnier outlook as I write this. Syracuse is coming off a big time upset of #18 Louisville, and quite frankly has re-energized Orange Nation. There is excitement and talk after this major statement win. But one game does not define a coach, so I will write this assessment with the bitter disdain and cold heart I wrote Part 1 with.

Boise State is taking on Southern Miss this week.

Once the Boise State football schedule was finalized, one of the games I was most looking forward to was Thursday’s contest against Southern Miss. I’ve always thought the Golden Eagles have fostered a very good program that has kind of flown under the radar…quite similar to Boise State before last season. Southern Miss has had 13 straight winning seasons, something even the Broncos haven’t matched (BSU has not had a losing season since 1997). “It’s so easy in college football today, maybe even around here, to go ‘13 winning seasons. Winning seasons? Who cares about that?” Boise State head coach Chris Petersen said. “That’s impressive … to be that consistent for that long is why we have a lot of respect for their program.”

At Ohio State a backup QB is going to be doing a little community service.

Just as Ohio State quarterback Antonio Henton appeared to be moving up the depth chart, the freshman was arrested, suspended from the team and subjected to a judge's scolding. Henton, 20, was arrested Monday night in a prostitution sting and charged with soliciting an undercover female police officer. He pleaded not guilty yesterday morning, then posted $250 bond and was released in the afternoon. In court, a handcuffed Henton said nothing and hung his head. Judge Amy Salerno, though, had plenty to say.

At UCLA they got the bad news that Pat Cowan is going to be out for at least three weeks.

Any budding quarterback controversy at UCLA was pruned Monday when the school said backup Patrick Cowan suffered a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Cowan will be sidelined for at least three weeks, but given that time frame and UCLA's schedule, it will be at least a month before he is ready for a game.That gives Ben Olson, who missed Saturday's win against Washington because of headaches (the school still is not calling it a concussion), time to cement his role as starter. UCLA plays Saturday at Oregon State, and hosts Notre Dame on Oct. 6. After a bye week, the Bruins host California Oct. 20, which could be when Cowan is again available.

Dan Raley on Lambo

Dan Raley wrote a nice column on Jim Lambright today in the PI

Jim will always have a special place in my heart because he taught me how to lift weights, and condition for football. His lack of selfishness helped me win a scholarship to a small college out of high school. Jim is a very nice man who deserved one heck of a lot better end to his career at UW. He wasn't perfect, he wasn't Don James, but he was perhaps the greatest Husky of all time. If you look at the entire history of Husky football it is hard to find a bigger contributor than Jim Lambright.

It is still tough for me to understand how you would pick Barbara Hedges over Jim Lambright.

Taking A Close Look at USC

USC is headed into Seattle this weekend and the Huskies hope to recover to put on a respectable showing against the top rated team in the country.

The Trojans haven't shown any weaknesses this season after dropping a couple of games last year. They are solid on both sides of the ball, and have blown out every opponent they have faced so far this season.

USC didn't really have to work up a sweat against Idaho, Nebraska, and Washington State, all three of those games were sewed up early in the first half.

Coach Pete Carroll (65- 12 in six years) led the USC Trojans (11- 2 overall, 7- 2 PAC-10) to a tie for first-place in the PAC-10 and to their 6th consecutive bowl appearance. This time they played Michigan in the Rose Bowl and beat them 32- 18. USC looks poised again to finish first in the conference and to compete for a top position at the end of the season.

The Trojans scored an average of 30.5 PPG last season, using the strong of arm of John David Booty (61.7% COMP, 3,347 YDs, 29 TDs, 9 INTs)—a potential Heisman Trophy candidate. Booty has a new coordinator, since Lane Kiffin left to coach the Oakland Raiders.

Steve Sarkisian, who is in his sixth year with the team and his first as coordinator, knows the club and Booty. Look for him to employ the shotgun, which Booty should utilize effectively. Booty has plenty of depth at receiver plus depth at RB with senior Chauncey Washington (157 CAR, 744 YDs, 4.7 AVG, 9 TDs) and talented sophomore C.J. Cable competing for the starting back spot. On the frontline, the Trojans return three starters and enough talent to fill out the line with quality play.

On defense, USC allowed a mere 15.2 PPG in 2006. The defense has 10 starters returning, which means they will be tougher and better than last season. Standouts include senior WLB Keith Rivers (85 tackles, 47 solo) and junior MLB Rey Maualuga (78 tackles, 45 solo). LB Brian Cushing was the defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl. Don't forget Seattle, and O'Dea HS product Taylor Mays who may be the teams most talented player. The frontline and secondary have talented starters and a lot of depth behind those guys.

Washington has a history of saving it's best games for the Trojans. Last year UW took them to the final seconds of the clock before losing the game. That however was a trend that happened to the Trojans in almost every game as they battled the inconsistencies of youth. This years edition seems a lot more consistent, and while they are still not up to the Bush, Leinhart, Williams, Jarrett level, they are starting to get close. LSU, and Florida may be the only teams in the country capable of playing with the Trojans this year.

For Washington to keep it respectable they need to eliminate mistakes, and find a running game to keep their defense off the field. Washington's 3 and out offensive performance in the first half wore out there defense for the second half, they need to find a way to control the ball to have a chance in this one.

Like last year when we played USC we have one equalizer, and that is Locker just like it was Stanback last season. Jake is the one player who can make a difference, and he needs to come out of the gate on fire to be able to slow down USC. Lappano needs to give him things he can get done. Count on SC to play man, and penetrate from the outside giving UW the middle of the field. UW needs to start taking advantage of that immediately.

Washington's defense is actually one of the better one's in the Pac Ten when they are not dog tired, and are prepared correctly. It is up to the coaching staff to correct the errors in preparation that have plauged the team the last two weeks. UW had a good game plan last year, and the Trojans haven't changed all that much except for being more experienced. If we can keep our defense fresh, and change up our schemes, we will do better this week with the help of the home crowd.

Can the Huskies win the game?

I think this team can compete with anyone if they play error free, block better, and correct the problems on special teams.

Jake Locker is extremely dangerous just like Stanback was last season, when he is on as we saw in the fourth quarter last week he can put points on the board. Our defense when rested and prepared can give us a shot to win as we saw in the first half of tOSU, and UCLA.

Turnovers of course are another great equalizer, and they can happen to any team, even USC. If UCLA, and Utah played ten times, UCLA would win nine of them. If USC can cough the ball up a number of times it would be a step in the right direction for an upset to happen.

USC on the other hand is a whole different kind of animal.

Even if the Huskies were coming into this game 4-0 I would think the chances of beating the Trojans would be minimal this season. They just have too much talent, depth, and experience. A good example of that depth is at the CB position. USC has lost both of it's starting CB's which would hurt a lot of teams. USC just reloads with another HS All American such as Shareece White. UW doesn't have a single player in it's secondary as talented as White, and he is second string at USC.

It is going to take a miracle for the Dawgs to win this Saturday, but miracles do happen if your opponent lets down, and makes mistakes. For Washington to win this game they are going to have to play one heck of a game, and win just about every phase. USC has to turn the ball over, and give the Husky offense a short field to work with. Husky Stadium is a very tough place to play for the Trojans, and crowd noise is always a factor.

The Huskies honor their 1960 National Champions on Saturday led by former head man Jim Owens. Hopefully the hoopla surrounding that event, and the throwback uniforms can put some fire in the Huskies belly. UW needs to come to this game with the same intensity, and toughness of that group led by Bob Schloredt, George Fleming, and Don McKeta. Hopefully Willingham will involve his team in pep talks before the game with those old Husky greats.

Emotion can be a powerful factor in a football game. The game starts at 5:00 PM Pacific allowing the fans to get properly juiced up for this contest. The ceremony honoring what is probably Washington's greatest team should go a long way in firing up the crowd for this one. Todd Marinovich once said, "All I Saw was Purple". UW has a chance to do that again on Saturday if all the pieces fall into place with execution.

Aftermath Notes

If you look at the film, and read Jake Locker's comments today you can find that the key to his early inaccuracy was his footwork. Happy feet kills QB's. Lappano wasn't doing him any favors when he sprinted him out one way and had to throw the other. That is a tough play for an NFL QB to make, and with UCLA's penetration it was ripe for interception. That is what happened and it cost us an uncontested seven points.

"We watched the film and my feet were in the wrong place a couple of times,'' he said. "I kind of got crazy with my feet, which I hadn't had a problem with the last couple of weeks. So it's something I need to focus on this week in practice.''

Another comment that came out was something I noticed early in the game but never came to life till the fourth quarter. It was throwing downfield, and throwing over the middle. One thing that really bugged me about the gameplan, and the lack of adjustments in the first half was that Washington wasn't taking what UCLA was giving them. UCLA was giving it to them because they knew by scouting UW they were hesitant to take it. You hope Lappano learns from it because USC is going to be doing the same thing, except it will be with better athletes.

Locker and receiver Anthony Russo each said one reason for the success was that the Huskies finally began throwing the ball downfield. Russo said receivers had been "bugging the coaches about it'' all game and that the plays were finally called in the fourth quarter with UW behind. Russo said that "hopefully the coaches open it (the playbook) up some more'' this week.

Everything you wanted to know about the University of Southern California

The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, 'SC, Southern California, and incorrectly as Southern Cal, they hate that), located in the University Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California and was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university.

USC men's and women's athletics have won 84 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, third best in the nation, trailing only UCLA and Stanford. Note that the NCAA does not include football championships in its calculation. If it did, USC's 11 football championships would bring the total to 95. USC men's teams have combined for 86 national championships, the best in the nation. In addition, USC has 347 Individual NCAA Championships, best in the nation. The men's 296 Individual Championships are best in the nation and 50 ahead of second place Michigan.

The colors of USC are cardinal and gold, which were approved by USC's third president, Rev. George W. White, in 1895. In 1958 the shade of gold, which was originally more of an orange color, was changed to a more yellow shade. The letterman's awards were the first to make the change.

The Trojan Shrine, better known as "Tommy Trojan," is a bronze statue located at the center of campus, and an integral figure in school pride, embodying the values of a Trojan: Faithful, Scholarly, Skillful, Courageous, and Ambitious.

Traveler, a majestic white horse, has been the USC mascot since 1961. Mounted by a rider dressed as a Trojan warrior, Traveler gallops around the field at every home football game whenever USC scores.

Prior to Traveler, making his first football game appearance in 1940, USC's mascot was a campus mutt called George Tirebiter that went around campus chasing cars. A statue was erected in his honor in 2006.

Spectators walking from campus to the Coliseum back-kick the base of one of the flag poles at the edge of campus on Exposition Boulevard to ensure good luck for the football team at their next game.

USC is also known for its marching band, known as The Spirit of Troy, which also calls itself "The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe". The band has been featured in at least 10 major movies and performed in the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Because of USC's proximity to Hollywood and being home to the top-ranked USC School of Cinematic Arts, the university has been used in thousands of movies, TV shows, commercials, and music videos. USC serves as a popular spot for filmmakers, standing in for numerous other universities, "playing" institutions such as Harvard and Oxford in movies and on television.

Famous USC alumni include OJ Simpson, Frank Gifford, Rickie Bell, Frank Gehry, Neil Armstrong, Marcus Allen, Mark McGwire, Tom Hicks, Sol Price, Charles Prince, Andrew Viterbi, Chris DeWolfe of Myspace fame, Jerry Buss, Frank McCourt Jr, James Horner, George Lucas, Will Ferrell, John Wayne, Warren Christopher, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, and former First Lady of the United States Patricia Nixon, just to name a few.

The Monday Morning Wash

Monday morning has rolled around again, and Husky fans are pretty morose after watching another game we had a chance to win, turn into another disappointing loss.

One of our long time readers who was at the game shared these thoughts, and I thought it would be interesting to start off the morning answering them in a space that would give me enough room.

Nice job Prrbrrr!

1. Was Meamber right?

(Yes, the Husky defense is not aligned correctly, and they are not making correct reads. UCLA obviously scouted and exploited it again this week.)

2. Once again, Baer makes an average team look All American. The starting QB practices only 4 days this year and torches you. The walk on RS Fr never played a snap replacement comes in and you overstack the box? Morons. You can cheat up a little, but my gosh.

(UW didn't go after Cowan from the get go, that allowed him to gain confidence. The over stack, goal line defense was an obvious coaching error. Not something you do when you have a tired defense going against rested RB's.)

3. We are trying to recruit Kavario Middleton as a TE, but would you come to an offense which threw 1 pass to a TE in 2 games, even though UCLA was giving us that play.

(UCLA gave us the play because they knew we wouldn't take it. I don't think it effects Kavario, it just shows we need better TE's. Kitd's look for opportunity to play immediately, UW has that in spades. The overall talent is actually getting better, but it is young, and we need more of it.)

4. Did you notice that the replacement guard for UCLA's Tevaga jumped off early at least 3 times in first half. DO we exploit that, no! Two 100 yard rushers in a game, especially when you have the RS walkon.

(That guard had lots of experience as a backup, he blocked decently even though he jumped a lot. Giving up big plays is the reason they rushed well, Baer was right take out the big plays and the defense did ok. I think the biggest factor was fatigue.)

5. Jake Locker is the real deal, but he is young. TL is trying to hit home runs with him, look at what UCLA did with Cowan, short outs to get the confidence in. JL is at the stage where he still locks on, and is barely able to get past his primary. Put him in a position to succeed.

(The middle was open all night, so dragging TE's across 10 yards deep, and sneaking out your FB's would have been high percentage calls. UCLA plays a very physical man defense, so they jam our WR's at the line of scrimmage which negated the type of quick outs we were giving UCLA by providing the 10 yard cushion. Locker came out cold, and looked like a deer in the headlights, so it isn't all TL.)

6.The staff talked about Ellis, and Goodwin (to stretch the field) but just talk. Our long threat is Russo, too slow to get separation. Reese is an enigma, poor concentration on routines but always one spectacular.

(They don't use a lot of players, they don't rotate or substitute well to keep players fresh. Russo probably does the best job of any player on the team with the skill he has.)

7. 3rd and 1, two fullbacks, too slow. Rankin needs to be relegated to KOR and maybe slotback where he can be in space. As for the RB coach, 3 yrs to coach it out of him or replace him and neither has happened. Solution replace RB coach Miles.

(Rankin should be returning kicks, no doubt about it. The FB's look like FB's. I don't see a lot of progress under Miles, and he is a so so recruiter.)

8. Davenport is an upgrade, not much McDowell, hope we haven't ruined his psyche ala Roc and Massey.

(McDowell will be fine, and has performed well in my opinion. A healthy Davenport is a much better choice.)

9. Special teams were very special this game in the negative. It is past time to suggest to an old friend(s) its time to retire with dignity, some people don't get it.

(I agree on that one even though I like him as a recruiter. I would never hire a former head coach as an assistant.)

10. Our OL is below average. DL was vastly overrated in preseason. LBs have already been I.D.'ed.

(The OL is young, and needs more talent. It is a position that takes five full years to upgrade. I think the DL is fine, they don't get any help from the people behind them, and if they stay on the field too long they get tired. I think the LB corp shows a lot of talent, but as Meamber said, they are not being properly prepared to make the correct reads. When you are out of position it is tough to make plays. They are also a little small.)

11. I would not give TW the 5th year. The kids are willing and trying, but the coaching both strategical (game plans) and tactically (lack of adjustments) are poor.

(Usually the fifth year is a gift, just like the fifth year for a scholarship athlete. When you make coaching changes it is usually a given that you buy out the last year of the contract. To be fair, this is only the start of year three, and the best most of us thought they would do is be 2-3 after the USC game. the thing that burns most people is we could have been 4-0 going into USC.)

12. I think our best hope is to show some improvement to hopefully recruit well enough to let the new regime (tba Dec2008) a solid foundation. It is time to to discretely identify candidates, no more retreads, find the next Urban Meyer, Jeff Tedford. It can be done.

(Jim Mora Jr. is the obvious next head coach in waiting. Most of the big money guys firmly are in his court. That being said, Don Coryell was in that position in 1969, and it never happened. 2007 was always going to be a major rebuilding year, so the emphasis for Ty is too have a very good 2008, and bring in a strong class this Winter.)

12. Lastly a funny quote from the RB by a UW fan as he was leaving that stinkeroo, "we want Gilby".

(This was a Gilby type game, poor game day coaching, poor scouting, and preparation...stinkeroo is an apt description.

I think Willingham agrees with you. "The coaches have to help them. We have to get them in the perfect position. And then we've got to get the execution.")

13. As for me, life goes on, the RB/UCLA jinx continues, and I have decided on Baer after actually giving his scheme deep thought. This game only added more coaches to the list. JD Williams and maybe Bagget are the only ones that should be retained if at all. TW is not CEO, friendship has clouded his bottom line.

(They aren't getting it done, and they are not giving their team the best chance to win. UCLA, and Ohio State were very beatable, but they won because they made second half adjustments, the UW staff hasn't shown they can do that.)

14. Sorry for a too lengthy rant, but I had to get it off, this after a cooling off. Noticed you went off both here and at Dman too, so we can both be excused.

(I did go off, and have to admit that I had quite a few during the game. I broke my own rule, don't post immediately after the game with a buzz. I sheepishly took a look at what I wrote the next day and couldn't find much I disagreed with.)

Pac Ten Round Up

USC didn't have any problem with Washington State, and I don't think they are going to lose a single game this year. they are excellent on both sides of the ball. LSU, and USC will meet for all the marbles in January. The Trojans take on UW in Husky Stadium this week, and it is going to be very ugly. UW's goal should be to protect it's players from injury.

Oregon State came out and hit ASU in the mouth, but Sean Canfield continues to destroy this team as he has five interceptions which basically handed ASU the win. ASU is a very good team at this point. OSU should have won this one, but you cannot beat anyone when you turn the ball over. Stop the OSU rushing game, make Canfield throw it, and you win the game. OSU takes on UCLA this week. The Sun Devils take on Stanford. Watch OSU rebound and slap the Bruins around because they can play defense, but offensively they have to eliminate the mistakes.

California got a late scare from Arizona, but still won handily. Arizona's defense which was supposed to be a strong point isn't doing it. California can score on anyone, but their defense is going to lose them a few games this year. Cal has Oregon next week, more on that below.

Oregon is in the same boat as Cal, but their offense may be in better shape right now. Oregon allowed the plucky Stanford Cardinal 31 points, and the Cards actually led at the half. Like Cal, Oregon's defense is going to lose them a few games this year. Stanford has ASU next week.

Oregon has it's first huge game of the year with Cal at home coming up this week. I am going to take Oregon in this showdown. I think the Ducks offense is playing better than Cal's right now, and will be able to outscore the Bears in a game that should go over 100 combined points.

The Weekly Poll Question

Last we asked?

Will Washington beat UCLA?

Yes 31% (29 votes)
No 9% (8 votes)
Washington will win by two or more TD's 57% (53 votes)
UCLA will win by two or more TD's. 3% (3 votes)

The overwhelming majority thought we would beat them by two TD's which was probably fueled by Ben Olson going down with a concussion.

This week we ask:

Do you have confidence in the UW coaching staff?

I am certainly not going to waste your time asking of we can beat USC. The last six quarters have been attrocious from a coaching perspective in my opinion. I think our coaches frankly hurt us in the second half the last two games. I think the gameplan going in against UCLA was plain lousy. Was it just an off week, or are you losing confidence in the coaching staff?

Pac Ten Power Ratings

1. USC....Nobody in the conference has the balance of the Trojans. (Rising)
2. California....Defense is Achilles heal. (Holding)
3. Oregon....Showdown with Cal this week. (Holding)
4. ASU....Nice win over Oregon State. (Rising)
5. UCLA...Good win over UW, but not firing on all cylinders. (Holding)
6. Washington....Terrible performance against UCLA. (Falling)
7. Oregon State....QB position is killing them. (Falling)
8. Washington St....Did you expect them to beat USC? (Holding)
9. Stanford....Nice job against Oregon. (Rising)
10. Arizona....Stoops not getting it done. (Falling)

10 Sober Points from Last Nights Game

It's time of course to take a sober look back at last nights game to see if I have a different view of things now that the Woodfords, and anger have worn out. The funny thing is I really don't. Here are a few key area's to talk about from last night's game.

1. Fatigue....The Husky Defense was on the field way too much last night. They did a good job holding UCLA to only 10 points in the first half, but never ran aggressive schemes against a gimpy QB when they were fresh. They never really pressured Cowan much in the first half. Offensively the Huskies couldn't find any rhythm in the first half which ended up wearing out our defense.

2. Defensive Adjustments....The Husky Defense came out flat in the second half. They didn't make any adjustments, and UCLA started picking on the corners by taking advantage of the ten yard cushion. UCLA's first drive of the third quarter was basically uncontested as they drove the length of the field to take a 7 point lead. Talk about taking what you are given, the Bruins did it on this drive.

3. Play Calling....As I said earlier the Husky offense couldn't find any rhythm early last night. UW wasn't taking what UCLA was giving them. the Bruins were blitz happy last night, and what was open was intermediate routes down the middle. where is the TE, where is the FB? The Huskies hit Paul Homer for a big gainer that was called back in the second half. That was a good example of what the Bruins were giving UW if they had figured out how to take advantage of it. When you score 31 points it should be enough to win. When you are tied 10-10 at the half you are still a good position to win. However all that offensive inefficiency on the first half kept the defense on the field way too long.

4. Extremely Bad Play Call....You can pin the 60 yard interception return for a TD by UCLA in the third quarter directly on Tim Lappano. That was an extremely dangerous pass play to call against a UCLA defense that had been getting penetration all night. It was a low percentage pass thrown cross field by Jake Locker who had been running the other direction which didn't allow him to get his feet properly set. Tough play for any QB, especially a RS. At that point it was 24-10, and most of us figured that we were done, but surprisingly enough we almost turned the game around right after that point.

4. The Big Turnaround....Lady luck smiled on the Huskies when they intercepted a pass and brought it back to the Bruin twenty. Jake hits a strike to the endzone and it is suddenly 24-17, and Lappano has finally found some rythym in his play calling. The TD was a big shot in the arm for the offense. Defensively it was a big play for the Dawgs, and UCLA QB Pat Cowan was injured on the play and had to leave the game. It was right at this point that UW finally had UCLA where they wanted them.

5. Not Seizing the Advantage....On the very next series UCLA brings in the only QB left on their roster, a non scholarship RS frosh with no experience, as I said last night, you are talking Felix Sweetman. Kent Baer and UW has to know what is coming at them for the rest of the game, they are not going to let this kid pass much. UCLA is going to run the ball. You also have to factor in that the Husky defense is tired from being on the field all night. What does Coach Baer do? He lines the team up in what looked like a goal line defense without back end support. Chris Markey pops a 72 yard TD run and UCLA leads 31-17. All UW had to do at this point was be conservative as they had been all night, and play it safe. The defensive alignment was just terrible on that play....but the game still wasn't over.

Why didn't UW make the RS frosh QB win this game? Big plays happen, but this was just ridiculous, why line up that way? UW was just asking for trouble and they got it immediately.

6. The Middle....UW responds with their best drive of the football game, and the Huskies are finally showing they have rhythm. Jake Locker is passing the ball well. The 63 yard strike to Russo is a thing of beauty as UW is now taking advantage of the Bruin blitz. UW is finally taking advantage of what the Bruins have been giving them all night. UCLA leads 31-24 and we still have a chance to put these guys away.

7. Special Teams....DJ used to say that special teams are 1/3 of the game. I can't remember the last time time UW has won a game with their special teams. On the kickoff UW finally puts itself out of the game by kicking a line drive that was caught on the run at the 15 by Sprint Champion Matt Slater who returned the ball for an 85 yard TD. You know your guys are fatigued, why not have the kicker go for the corner? Why not have him squiggle it so the return threat is negated? UW didn't think of that, and suddenly it was 38-24 UCLA.

8. Big Plays...UCLA used the big play all night to beat Washington. sure they dominated statistically as UW was unable to stop the pass, or rush, but UW had a good chance to win this one if they could stop the big plays.

A. Halfback pass for TD
B. Interception return for 60 yard TD
C. 72 yard run by Chris Markey with UCLA out of scholarship QB's.
D. 85 yard kick off return

That is 28 points given up on four plays, and there is no way you are going to be able to overcome that. You give up big plays because you blow coverage, don't prepare well, or you are running the wrong scheme. UW was guilty of that all night. Take away just a couple of those big plays, and Washington wins this football game despite struggling on offense, and being fatigued on defense.

9. Coaching....I wouldn't say that either team had an edge in coaching last night, but give Dorrell credit where credit is due for the way his team came out to start the second half. That first drive they put together was the result of making adjustments in the locker room at half. UW on the other hand didn't make any defensive adjustments to counter it. How about Bob Simmons and special teams? The guy is zero for 2 1/2 years leading Husky special teams, he has to go. Lappano wasn't on his game, but he did make the adjustments that allowed the Huskies to have a chance to win and put 31 points on the board. If Baer and Simmons were doing their jobs that should have been more than enough.

10. Woodfords Special Reserve....My wife brought home a surprise for me last night from Costco, and I have to say that I went through a good portion of the bottle watching the game. I would have to say that she, and that bottle where the MVP's from last nights game. The Huskies are a lot better than they played last night. Jake Locker is going to be a Heisman candidate before it is all said, and done. As for Ty Willingham the jury is still out, but he is starting to run out of time, and in my opinion he may not be around for the dedication ceremony of the new Husky Stadium.

Coaching Errors....Rose Bowl Jinx

Washington had UCLA on the ropes last night when Pat Cowan went down with a knee injury, all they had to do was depend on the coaching staff to make the right calls, and as they did all night, they were not up to the task.

UW was terrible almost the entire night on offense, but in the third quarter the Huskies intercepted a pass and returned it to the Bruin 20. Jake Locker made a strike to the end zone, and suddenly with Pat Cowen out, the Huskies were ready to deliver a knockout blow to the Bruins. UW was only down 7 at this point and had total momentum while Pat Cowan was crying on the sidelines. The Bruins were suddenly down to a non scholarship QB with no experience to finish the game.

Kent Baer who was out coached the entire evening put his team in an improper alignment that allowed the Bruins to score from their 28 on a 72 yard touchdown by Chris Markey. The alignment was beyond total stupidity because all the Huskies had to do at this point was play as they had all night, and that was 10 yards off the line because the kid couldn't make a play if he tried. Baer panicked, didn't use reason, and abandoned the game plan that had gotten him to this point. If Baer was going to get aggressive he should have done it two quarters earlier when he had a fresh defense. At this point of the game he had a fatigued defense that had been out on the field all night long....what a total moron.

The Huskies continued to answer on offense as Locker hit Russo for a 63 yard pass for another touchdown. Stupidity once again was exhibited by the coaching staff by kicking directly to former California Sprint champion Matt Slater who returned the ball 85 yards for another TD negating their advantage once again. Why exactly would you do that with a fatigued team that had been on the field all night?

That was the story of the game even though Locker answered again with another TD drive.

Here is the point Husky fans, we had them on the ropes, and coaching errors sealed the defeat.

UW was never in sync all night despite being tied 10-10 at halftime putting up almost no offense in the first half as the result of bad play calling, and poor execution.

If there are any positives to be had from this contest it is the fact that Jake Locker may have come to age tonight under fire. The kid hung in there all night, and never gave up. He gained an incredible amount of experience, but you can't give away 21 points to your opponent on gifts and expect to win....better days are ahead, but it won't be next week.

One other thing, I would bench Louis Rankin and go with the Hasty, and the Frosh, I am so sick and tired of him not hitting the hole.

UW vs UCLA Game Blog

It is early Saturday morning and we have around 14 hours till kickoff at the Rose Bowl. Most of the local writers are predicting the Huskies to win in a close game because of the fact that the Bruins will have seven starters out for this one and will be led by a QB with a gimpy hamstring. If you look at our poll an overwhelming majority of posters have picked UW to win by two touchdowns which I find quite interesting.

The game is going to be broadcast in HD by Fox tonight which is a great thing. I just happened to have picked up a Direct TV HD DVR at Costco yesterday to celebrate. If you have Direct TV there is good news coming from the HD side of things, they should go live with 75 new HD channels in the next week or so, and add a total of 150 new ones by the end of the year.

Getting back to discussing the game...this is one of those games where it is very difficult to get a good feel going in.

Ten Things to Ponder

1. UCLA has seven starting players declared out for the game. That is 1/3 of their starting lineup.

2. UCLA is coming off a 44-6 thrashing by Utah.

3. This is a crucial game for Karl Dorrell who is in his 5th year at UCLA. He needs to prove last week was a fluke, and that he has firm control of his team.

4. UCLA had five turnovers and ten penalties last week.

5. UCLA is down to one QB, and he has a bad hamstring.

6. UW also has a few things to prove too. They led tOSU 7-3 in the third quarter then imploded due to offensive, and special teams mistakes.

7. UW hasn't been able to develop a running game over the past six quarters.

8. UW's receivers have made life tough for Jake Locker by dropping a bevy of passes the past six quarters.

9. UW hasn't won against UCLA at the Rose Bowl since 1995. That would make Jake Locker around seven years old the last time it happened.

10. The last three meetings have been very close. Willingham, and Lappano seem to be able to out coach Dorrell, and the UCLA staff.

Syracuse upsets Louisville!

Remember when I called the quarterbacks even in the matchups for the Syracuse/UW game? Well I felt silly after the game because Locker was so much better than Robinson, and I even said that they both would be playing on Sundays in the future. I am redeemed, Robinson has arrived! He threw four TD passes against Louisville today as Syracuse upset the 18th ranked Cardinals.....wow. Most of us had written off Syracuse...isn't college football great!

Pac Ten Game Summaries and Updates

Three late night games on tap tonight in the Pac Ten. UW get's the latest start at 7:28 pm Pacific time.

California 45 Arizona 27

This one is plain ugly with the score 38-17 in the third quarter. Cal hit for 28 points in the first quarter, and has been on cruise control ever since.

Arizona is now suprisingly making a game out of it scoring ten points in the fourth quarter. They trail 38-27 with 12:42 left in the game....wow! when was the last time Arizona scored 27 points? either Cal's defense suck's, or UA is rounding into shape on offense.

Cal answeres with a TD and picks up the victory 45-27.

USC 47 WSU 14

The Cougars are hanging with the Trojans as it is 7-7 in the first quarter. The Cougar defense is pretty porous so if WSU is going to stay in it they need to put their track shoes on. WSU is plain bad on D, but the offense makes it interesting. the Trojans just socred again after getting the short field after a long kickoff return. 14-7 USC and the track meet is on. I know they can score against WSU, but I am keeping my eye on the USC defense to see how porous they are in conference play.

USC is looking pretty unstoppable against the Cougars. anyone who beats these guys is going to have to have a high powered offense, and a rock solid defense. I don't see that combo in the Pac Ten as yet this season. Trojans kick a field goal to cap a 98 yard drive to take the lead 17-7 early in the second quarter.

USC is putting a whooping on the Cougars 27-7 with about a minute left in the first half....this one is over.

47-14 in the 4th quarter and plenty of style points for USC.

Oregon vs Stanford

Watching film of Oregon's first three games would be enough to scare any defense.

Ducks jump out 14-3 in the first quarter.

21-17 Oregon in the second quarter as Stanford shows some life.

Stanford has taken the lead 24-21 late in the second quarter, gotta love it!

Stanford is shocking Oregon 31-24 with about 30 seconds left in the half.

Stanford realed of 28 unanswered points!

Oregon ties it up at 31-31 in the third quarter.

45-31 Oregon as reality sets in.

Oregon State vs Arizona State

The Beavers try to break the Tempe jinx.

OSU jumps out 16-0 in the first quarter....Sorry Dennis!

OSU 19-7 with eight minutes left in the half.

19-10 OSU with a minute left. 19-13 at the half.

26-13 OSU midway through the third.

26-20 OSU as we near the end of the third.

Washington vs UCLA

The UCLA Bruins will try to bounce back from a disappointing defeat. So will the Washington Huskies. Only one will succeed.

Not a good 1st quarter for the offense, but the defense saved them and UCLA only has a 3-0 lead. As predicted UCLA came out fighting tonight. The second quarter starts with a couple of mistakes and the Huskies are getting zero production out of the offense. Petro Papadakis is totally annoying as a color man.

UW gets a break early in the 2nd quarter as UCLA muffs a punt and UW recovers. Lets see iff the offense can get something going. Have to say the play calling, and execution have left a lot to be desired so far.

Huskies drive it down to the 2 and Locker hits Reese in the endzone for 6!

7-3 Washington

UCLA bets UW to bite on a TB pass for a long gain to inside the five and they convert on a nice pass on third down to take back the lead. Greyson Gunheim goes down with a knee injury.

10-7 UCLA

UW needs to put together a decent drive. The UCLA defense is getting the better of UW tonight. UW puts together agood drive on the feet of Locker. Drive stalls at the 20. Perking hots the field goal.

10-10

UCLA goes nowhere and UW takes over at their 30 with 2:32 to go. UW goes 3 and out on an ugly series. UCLA takes over on it's own 30 with a couple minutes left. The Bruins pick up a couple first down but end the half on an incomplete Hail Mary. Tied at 1o as we head to halftime.

Really an ugly half for both teams, neither are really executing tonight the way they can on offense. If you have watched UW/UCLA games in the past the second half is always a completely different game. Whoever makes the best adjustments is going to won this game.

UCLA starts the second half with the ball on their 30. UCLA drives 71 yards with little trouble to go ahead.

17-10 UCLA

UW goes 3 and out, and we are in big trouble. terrible play calling and execution.

UCLA takes over at the UW 43 after a poor punt, this game is about to get out of hand of we can't get a stop on defense. UCLA is driving again and is stopped outside the Husky 30, bu they go on 4th and 2. Huskies stop them and dodge a major bullet. 3 and out again for UW...Locker looks like a deer in the headlights. 3 and out for UCLA.

UW starts at the 34. Locker throws a 56 yard interception for a TD. Not a very good throw, or play call. Terrible call by Lappano, just terrible.

24-10 UCLA

UW fumbles the kick off and gets pinned back at their own 14. UW actualy gets a first down on a pass. Homer makes a great play for a big gainer that is called back for an illegal block in the back by Reese. Crummy call in my opinion. UW fumbles on the next play but retains possesion. UW has to punt, the penalty takes points off the board.

UCLA takes over on their own 30 and the Huskies intercept the ball on the very first play! UW has the ball on the UCLA 20. Locker throws a strike to Russo in the endzone for 6!

24-17 UCLA

Weekly Predictions

I am a day late this week with the predictions due to a busy schedule that has persisted throughout the week. I went 13-5 last week, and I am 29-10 for the year. I missed on Ohio State, Florida State, Stanford, New Mexico, and Utah.

Picking San Jose to beat Stanford was silly, but I thought Tomey had a lot more going. This loss by the way really minimizes ASU's opening win over the Spartans. Arizona losing to New Mexico? UCLA getting blown out by Utah? Colorado failing to right the ship against Florida State? I also picked the Huskies by two TD's over tOSU and that didn't work out either. A fellow blogger from tOSU kindly called this a homer site, but I really felt we would win. Eliminate the mistakes, and it would have happened.

Miami beat Texas A&M last night on ESPN. I didn't get the chance to watch it, but the Aggie's are in trouble losing to this outfit.

Pac Ten Games

A full slate of conference action is scheduled this weekend as the in league schedule starts in earnest.

Washington at UCLA

The Huskies break the Rose Bowl jinx as Jake Locker runs all over the Bruins. Louis Rankin has had career games against the Bruins. Ty Willingham owns Karl Dorrell.

Oregon State at Arizona State

The Beavers break a jinx of their own getting past the Sun Devils on the road for the first time since 1969. ASU hasn't impressed me much even though they are 3-0. OSU on the other hand hasn't impressed me much either. I think OSU, and the Beavers have more on the line here and will be prepared. Keep an eye on both QB's, the team who gets the best performance out of them will win the game.

Oregon at Stanford

The Ducks are going to rock and roll over the Cardinal. Bring a calculator because the Duck offense is going to score plenty of points. This will be an interesting game to judge Harbaugh's progress, but like earlier in the year against UCLA the Cards don't have the horses yet.

WSU at Southern California

WSU will score a couple of touchdowns to keep it interested, but the Trojans will have a field day with the Coug defense.

Arizona at California

The Mike Stoops farewell tour steps in Berkeley this week. This one isn't going to be pretty. The UA defense is hurting, and the UA offense hasn't shown up yet this season.

National Games

South Carolina at LSU

I love the Gamecocks and Spurrier, but LSU is in a different league. It isn't going to be close.

Penn State at Michigan

Joe Paterno will add another nail to Lloyd Carr's coffin in Ann Arbor.

Georgia at Alabama

I have to go with Saban and Bama in this one since it is at their home field.

Kentucky at Arkansas

Look for the resurgent Wildcats to overcome the Razorbacks on the road. Nice job Rich Brooks!

Michigan State at Notre Dame

This was the beginning of the end for the Spartans last year when they let the Irish off the hook. This year the only hook will be the one stuck in Fat Charlie's mouth. A 0-4 start for Notre Dame? Why not you have to like it! With Purdue, UCLA, BC, and USC up after MSU the Irish are likely to start 0-8, and won't that be delicious? The Irish finish up with Navy, Air Force, Duke, and Stanford so the prospect of 0-12 isn't likely.

Army at Boston College

The Eagles are for real and an ACC title contender after knocking off Georgia Tech last week. They will have no problem with the Cadets. I watch these guys because my wife went there, and I have to tell you, they are really good. They even have a Heisman contender on the roster.

UW / UCLA Matchups

Old rivals Washington, and UCLA square off in the Rose Bowl on Saturday night as both teams try to bounce back from losses the previous week. On paper before the season you would have to favor the Bruins by quite a bit due to all the talent, experience, and depth on the roster. Coach Dorrell figured this was the year his team would challenge for a BCS berth, and conference championship. Injuries, attitude, and inconsistent play are hurting the Bruins right now.

Washington surprised in it's first two games defeating Boise State, and Syracuse in dominating style. The Huskies disappointingly fell to Ohio State last weekend at home after leading 7-3 at the half. Mistakes on offense, and special teams contributed to that loss, especially in the second half. UW looks to rebound and get some help to take all the load off Jake Locker.

This should be a close game unless one of the teams self destructs, and as we saw last week, they both have the potential to do that. I think we will see a different UCLA team this week. After the beating they took against Utah expect them to bounce back strong unless Dorrell has truly lost control of his team.

Quarterback - Washington - UCLA's Ben Olson is coming off a disastrous game against Utah and will likely miss this one because of a concussion. Pat Cowan will likely start for the Bruins and has been out most of the Fall with a hamstring injury. Jake has the edge even if both of those guys were healthy, but he has some mistakes of his own to eliminate.

Running Back - UCLA - Markey and Bell are a good tandem, but neither is NFL quality. Markey catches the ball well out of the backfield while Bell is the better rusher. UW's running game has been stalled the last six quarters, and could have problems this week against a UCLA team that is tough on the run. Louis Rankin has had some of the best games of his career against UCLA. Markey is dangerous over the middle as a receiver sneaking out of the backfield and will challenge the Husky linebackers.

Wide Receiver - UCLA - The Bruins top wideout will miss this game, but Cowan, and Breazell are very solid receivers. Washington has been very inconsistent the lat two weeks by dropping plenty of balls which have resulted in stalled drives. Lappano plans on getting some different players such as Ellis, and Goodwin in the mix this week.

Tight End - UCLA - Washington's Tight Ends have been absent all season from the offense and that should continue on Saturday as UW spreads out the field against the Bruins.

Offensive Line - Even - On paper you have to give this one to UCLA, but after all the sacks, penalties, turnovers, and the loss of Sevaga to injury you have to call it even and let them both slug it out. UW has done a decent job protecting Locker, but they haven't given Rankin enough room to run lately.

Defensive Line - Washington - The Huskies didn't have one of their better games last week on the line since they didn't pick up a sack against an immobile QB. Ohio State's mammoth offensive line may have had a lot to do with that. UCLA will be missing it's top lineman for this one so while this is close to call I would say the advantage is tipped in UW's favor.

Linebacker - Washington - EJ Savannah is going to be an all league player, you have to like the way he is playing. Dan Howell is back this week after sitting out against tOSU. Once again this is a close one to call, but give the Huskies the edge since they are back at full strength. The unit was criticized last week however by a former player, and influential insiders by not being prepared properly in their read package against Ohio State.

Defensive Back - UCLA - The Bruins have a lot more talent and depth back there than we have at this point. Vonzell McDowell was torched last week by Ohio State, and look for the Bruins to continue to extend the trend. Byron Davenport is back again this week for the Huskies and if he can stay healthy he will make a difference. UW's safeties have been adequate so far, but they lack a big hammer in the middle. Look for Nate Williams to develop into that hammer.

Special Teams - UCLA - I have to go with the Bruins because until Washington eliminates such mistakes as having kicks blocked and fumbling kickoff returns they will continue to give away points to the opposition each week.

Coaching - Washington - Willingham, and Lappano own Karl Dorrell, nuff said. Ty would be 2-0 against UCLA if White, and Hemphill hadn't have taken a play off against them two years ago.

Prediction

After all that I am predicting a 27-24 victory for the Huskies against a team with superior depth, experience, and talent. UCLA is still in disarray, and poorly coached. UW has played some of the best games of Ty's tenure against the Bruins home, and away. Washington traditionally plays the LA schools tough, and forget about the Rose Bowl jinx, Willingham knows how to prepare a team for the road. Jake Locker will be the best player on the field, and UCLA will not be up to par at the QB position after the shellacking of last week. Cowan may be more mobile than Olson, but his hamstring will limit that mobility. UCLA will be in big trouble if he comes up lame. UCLA will be missing 2/3 of it's entire starting lineup for this one, and it will be a true test for their depth to rise to the occasion.

A New Husky Stadium by 2010?

Athletic Director Todd Turner, and his stadium committee led by former governor Dan Evans met with the media yesterday after presenting the plans to renovate Husky Stadium to the UW Board of Regents.

UW officials said they hope to begin construction of some of the project by Dec. 2008 to beat the beginning of the SoundTransit project in 2009. They said they'd hope for completion by 2010 but more likely 2011 or 2012.

They left open the possibility of playing elsewhere for a season or two at Qwest Field, but said they'd like to avoid that if possible.

A renovation would completely gut the decrepit lower bowl, increase the number of concession stands by 50 percent, increase the number of women's restrooms by 50 percent and the number of men's restrooms by 30 percent. It would also add seven elevators bringing the total from two to nine, widen the seats and rows and improve the views of Lake Washington.

The Husky Stadium project would completed be in two parts:

1. Renovation and program improvements.

This includes the gutting and rebuilding of the lower bowl (and making it up to code) and square it off, the removal of the track, the lowering of the field (of about eight feet -- it would be flush with the current softball field), the creation of seven to 10 rows of seating. The removal of the track and the squaring off of the west end brings fans 86 feet closer to the field. "The lower seats now will be high enough that they'll be the best seats in the house," Turner said. "We know it's a tough place for people to come in and play, and we're going to make it a whole lot tougher."

2. New facility construction.

A pedestrian pavilion would replace the current drive way and concourse on the west end of the stadium and, the room created by the squaring off of the west end would provide space for football offices. It would include coaches offices, weightrooms, lockerrooms and could possibly house the football ticket office. Twenty suites could also be put in that area.

Fundraising

No stone will go unturned during the fundraising process. Look for the State of Washington to get involved, look for booster donations, tax credits, naming rights, ticket surcharges etc.. to get it all done. The project is going to cost in the range of 300 million once it is completed making it the most expensive project in the history of the athletic department.

The lower bowl of the stadium built in 1920 has aged to the point where it has to be repaired, or replaced. The cost for maintaining it, and the rest stadium will exceed 100 million over the next ten years. That being said it makes sense to do a total remodel rather than just maintain the current facility.

Willingham Reaction

Tyrone Willingham was asked first about the relevance of a new stadium to recruiting and said: "It is a great deal. Because anytime you can do anything to make it better for the fans, you in turn make it better for the players. Because if you can create a better environment for your fans to be in, your players will be the recipients of that. They feel the emotion, they feel the love, they feel the joy, they feel the enthusiasm of that crowd, so it's a real plus. It's a win for us.

The Ultimate Guide for the Wired Husky Fan

I moved to the Midwest right after the Huskies National Championship season. The first place I lived was Nashville, Tennessee. It was a tough move because I was leaving all my friends, family, plus Don James, and the Huskies behind.

It was pretty tough living outside of Seattle and being a Husky fan in 1992. I had to go to sports bars to watch games if they were on TV. Imagine how many fellow Husky fans you could find in Nashville, Tennessee? There was no Internet content at the time, so I had to subscribe to the Seattle Times Sunday edition by mail, and of course Sports Washington, which would show up 2-3 weeks late.

If I wanted up to date recruiting news I had to get jammed for an ungodly sum by Jim Heckman on his 1-900 service. If I wanted to listen to a game on radio I had to do it over the phone, and that was ungodly expensive too. I ended up flying to as many games as I could because it was the only way I could truly follow my favorite team if I was 2000 miles away from home. I am sure some of you other expatriated Husky football fans have had the same frustrating experience.

When I moved to Minnesota just a few years later a few things began to happen that were positive. The Internet was now in vogue, and the games started to be streamed live over the Internet. I also was able to follow the Huskies through the local newspapers, and something called Dawgman.com. Another piece of technology came along known as Direct TV, and I was able to watch the televised games at home rather than a smoky sports bar that was devoid of fellow Husky fans.

I have been here in Chicago for the past ten years, and as technology has advanced, I have bought into it to fuel my Husky passion. I got by very well with streamed radio, direct TV, and the Internet, but when I got married last year I had to learn to compromise, I wasn't going to be home every single weekend of the Fall anymore. My wife had to compromise too, she doesn't mind if I watch, and she enjoys it too, but sometimes commitments get in the way.

What I have done is put together the ultimate home, and remote package for the rabid Husky Football fan so no matter where I am in the world, or whatever I am doing, I will be able to watch the game.

1. High speed broadband Internet

You need this for a ton of reasons, but to power my remote packages I need a high speed G wireless router. As you will see everything works together in my Wireless Husky network!

2. Subscription to Dawgman

You can't live without if you are a Husky fan, and chatting online with fellow addicts during the game is a must. Also included is a subscription to Sports Washington which is awesome!

3. Free Subscription to Go Huskies.com

The only way you are going to be able to stream the game to your computer.

4. Y cable

If the game is only on radio you don't want to be restricted by listening over your tinny computer speakers. With a Y cable which costs five bucks you can plug the sound directly into your stereo and pipe it through the house.

5. Direct TV

If the game is on you can get virtually every game this way no matter where you live in the United States.

6. Comcast or Local Cable

Bill Fleenor has pointed out that some games may be on Fox College Sports only which means they won't be on direct TV, only cable. That is why Bill has both. Bill by the way is single, and this could be a reason for that.

7. Slingbox

Slingbox allows you to watch whatever you have on your home TV system anywhere there is a broadband connection for your PC. You can also stream the live video to your cell phone.

(Special note to Hair...you can have your dad set up a Slingbox with a Cable, or Direct TV receiver back in Seattle, and you can actually watch anything you want in Quatar free of charge from back home! You need a dedicated Direct TV, or Cable receiver because you actually change the channels on the reciever back home from your PC wherever you are.)

8. Treo 755P Smart Phone

This is Palm's newest smart phone, and you can watch anything you want from your home TV on it as long as you have a connection. If you have Slingbox, you can watch the game on your cell phone with a great picture and excellent audio. This new model even works high speed where EVDO service is available! You can even use your Treo as a high speed modem via blue tooth or cable to give your laptop an Internet connection when you can't find a WIFI signal!

9. Slingcatcher

This is a new device coming out this Fall that will allow you to project or Sling any image you have on your computer onto any TV screen wherever you are at n the world. So if you happen to be in Quatar, or some ungodly place like that, you don't have to watch it on your computer screen, you can project it on to your TV.

10. XM Radio

Every Husky game is available on XM radio so if you are in a remote location, or driving in your car, you won't miss a minute of the action in the continental United States. Unfortunately it doesn't work in Hawaii, Alaska, and is very spotty in the Caribbean, and Mexico.

11. Squeezebox

Squeezebox is an Internet radio receiver that streams your entire PC Music collection, Internet radio stations, and music services such as Rhapsody, Pandora, etc...directly into your audio system for a high fidelity sound. Listen to Softy, and KJR in all their harmonic majesty no matter where you live in the world. Can you stream the game? Not currently, but I imagine partnerships will be developed for that to in the near future. In fact I wrote CSTV about considering such a partnership. In the meantime I just hook up the Y cable to the audio during games from my PC.

12. The Remote Setup in the Parking Lot

A couple of quick notes on this........great info by the way.........At our tailgaters, we use these battery packs (see link) to power a laptop, a set of speakers, and Clearwire internet.
(of course, it's a side benefit that the brand is "Husky") Then, we use the system to connect to my Slingbox at home and - voila! - we can watch all the games on TV before and after the UW game. Tailgating in the 21st century rocks!

(Contributed by Nathan Ware from the PI Dawgblawg)

Husky Tools

Conclusion

I have gone to a lot of work and some expense putting together my complete Husky package, and if you are married you may not get the support you need, but since all these things work well with music, and other entertainment options you should be able to keep her happy too with all the new options you have put at her disposal!

My ultimate goal is never miss a Husky game ever again!

Washington vs UCLA Preview

Washington heads to the Rose Bowl on Saturday to play UCLA in a night game broadcast nationally on Fox Sports. UCLA is hurting after a 44-6 beating on the road at the hands of Utah while Washington lost a tough one to Ohio State after leading at the half 7-3.

While I have been dumping quite a bit on UCLA the past two days there is one very important factor to consider going into this ballgame. UCLA has more talent, and depth than Washington even with the injuries. If UCLA eliminates the mistakes they have been making the last six quarters they should be able to beat Washington at home.

UCLA however isn't as talented as Ohio State. They aren't as well coached as Boise State. The Bruin's haven't been playing like a cohesive unit on either side of the ball for the majority of the year, and they are getting a major attitude call this week. No question about it, UCLA is going to show up mad on Saturday looking for a little revenge, and respect.

When UCLA has the Ball

Patrick Cowan will start for UCLA on Saturday. Ben Olson didn't practice Wednesday and the Bruins aren't even sure if he'll practice tomorrow. If a player doesn't practice on Thursday, he can't play in the game on Saturday.

Whoever does start the game for UCLA is going to be throwing at Vonzell McDowell if the UCLA coaching staff has it's head screwed on right. They are also going to try to run the ball like Ohio State did to loosen things up for the passing game. Chris Markey and Khalil Bell are decent running backs, but probably a step down from the TB's UW has faced the past two weeks in Wells, and Johnson. TB Chris Markey's (35 REC, 261 YDs, 7.5 AVG, 0 TDs; 227 CAR, 1,107 YDs, 4.9 AVG, 2 TDs) primary job is carrying the ball, but he can also catch it. UW's linebackers will be challenged by Markey.

UCLA has experience at WR and are led going into the game by Brandon Beazell, and Joe Cowan. Marcus Everett who is the leader is on crutches and will likely miss the game.

UCLA has a great offensive line on paper, well at least they were great till last weekend when they allowed Olsen to get ambushed by the Ute's. The Bruins however have lost their top OL in Shannon Tevaga, and that should have an impact. P.J. Irvin will be stepping in to replace him.

Look for UW to try to get pressure on the QB to force similar mistakes which were the key to the Ute victory. Washington also has to protect their secondary which means that that the 3-4 man rush we are all starting loathe will likely be in the game plan again this week.

The key to beating UCLA is stopping their passing attack, and last week they did that quite a bit on their own with all the penalties, and turnovers. Don't count on that this week, there is nothing more dangerous than a wounded Bear, or Bruin as it is in this case.

When Washington has the Ball

All eyes of course are focused on Jake Locker who has had to do it pretty much on his own the last two weeks. the Washington running attack hasn't gotten much going, and the receivers have been missing plenty of opportunities by dropping the ball.

UW needs to spread it out against the Bruins, and they could really use some balance to take away the focus from Locker. UW has been able to move the ball on the Bruin offense the past two years and I don't see much reason why that should change this season. The Bruins are strong against the run but they give up quite a bit more passing. UW can use the spread, and the threat of Locker running the ball to create a lot of space in the Bruin defensive backfield. The only question is, can our receivers hold onto the ball?

A couple of things have been missing from the offense in the first three games. We haven't been passing the ball to our fullbacks, and tight ends. We haven't let our one legitimate deep threat D'Andre Goodwin see much action which I think is a mistake. I would love to see this guy go deep, and I would like to see what he can do returning punts.

Louis Rankin really needs to get untracked, his performance can be labeled poor this season except for the Syracuse outing. Brandon Johnson's rib injury really hurt us last week. I would love to see this kid get some meaningful carries and return to his kickoff return role. I wouldn't mind seeing JR Hasty exit the Willingham doghouse, and get a shot too. Hasty has a streak of nasty inside. The point is Washington needs to have someone help Locker out so teams can't key on him all the time.

Intangibles

Willingham said FB Luke Kravitz should be able to do more this week as he will have a smaller cast that should allow greater flexibility to carry the ball. Luke can be a secret weapon catching passes out of the backfield, and he is a better runner than Homer. Luke has the potential to have some Richard Thomas like plays.

WR Marcus Everett is likely out for Washington, coach Karl Dorrell said converted QB Osaar Rasshan would be the Bruins' third receiver at the X position. It should mean the first meaningful snaps for Rasshan.

UCLA DT Brian Price did not disappoint in his first practice since returning from a six-week NCAA-mandated hiatus while he made it through the clearinghouse. He was quick off the ball, showed excellent stamina and strength. I think he had the chance to be in at least 20 plays, and possibly more if he does well. (So this kid is going to play after missing six weeks? I would run at him all day.)

"Last week, the practices were not up to par," UCLA's Breazell said. "You got to come in here and work as if it is the last practice, work like it's the last breath you're going to take. (Breazell is recovering from a concussion and three lost teeth)

The Bruins pounced on BYU for a 20-0 lead, and then slacked off, a veteran team acting somewhat immaturely once again. They started slowly in Utah, and never recovered, but was that in the preparation or the execution? (The Huskies have to eliminate the UCLA quick start)

Asked how to prepare for the possibility of two different starting QBs for UCLA, Baer said "it's really difficult. We'll try to do what we do and understand that they do do a few different things with a left-handed quarterback (Ben Olson) than a right-handed quarterback (Pat Cowan) and they might change some of their formations or motion schemes a little bit based on what QB they are using. But otherwise we aren't going to change much.''

Three games into UCLA's season and of the 22 projected starters in training camp, seven sat out with injuries during Tuesday's practice.

"UCLA is not the team that played last weekend against Utah," said UW coach Tyrone Willingham. "You look at that ballgame, you see a lot of things that were very close in that game. Without turnovers and sacks and things of that nature it would have been a different ballgame."

Byron Davenport said he was limited in practice Tuesday but planned to be ready for Saturday. "It's time,'' he said of his anxiousness to get on the field. LB Dan Howell is also expected back this weekend after sitting out against Ohio State.

Concerning TB Chris Markey's health, Dorrell said other than normal bumps and bruises, Markey is fine.

Lappano said again that the receivers "have got to be able to catch the football. They all don't have to be perfect passes. Players make plays and we've got to make plays --- make tough throws, break tackles in the run game. There's no magic wand. Players make plays and we have to make plays because we are letting too many plays slip away.

Why UCLA will win

UCLA will win if they can torch the Washington secondary, control the line of scrimmage, and get their running game going enough to open up the passing lanes. Most importantly they must limit the gruesome mistakes they suffered last week against Utah.

UCLA is going to come out of the gates fast and hard. UW needs to stay with them in the early going because the Bruins have a lot to prove this week. Don't expect the Bruins to show up flat two weeks in a row.

Patrick Cowan will get his first start of the year, and has the extra incentive of beating his fathers alma mater. He is a lot more mobile than Olson and that might be enough to negate the Huskies 3-4 man pass rush. Look for him to try to team up with his brother Joe.

The UCLA defense needs to stop the run, and put everything on the shoulders of Jake Locker.

Emotion is the Bruins best friend right now. If they can come out fired up and blow the Huskies off the ball with their offensive line it is going to give them a big advantage.

Why Washington will win

Washington will win if they can get some pressure on the QB, and force him into the type of mistakes the Bruins committed last week against Utah. The UW defense faced a statue at QB lat week and didn't come up with a sack.

Offensively UW needs to help Locker out by holding onto the ball, and creating another rushing threat other than Jake. Rankin has had some of his best games against UCLA, and it would be great if he could do it one more time against them.

UW needs some offensive balance, sticky hands, a lack of turnovers on offense, and a pass rush that creates turnovers on the defensive side to come home with the victory.

The absence of a running game over the last six quarters has been Washington's biggest problem. UW needs to solve that this week or it is going to be a problem with the potential to drag down the team in conference play.

What do I think?

I think UCLA is going to come out much better prepared than last week for this first conference game. I think there is going to be a lot of emotion, and if UW doesn't watch it, the tables could be reversed very early from last week. UCLA obviously isn't as bad as they showed last week, there is too much talent even with the injuries.

UW needs to start making some plays on offense that don't depend completely on Jake Locker. Like I said earlier Louis Rankin has had some of his best days as a Husky against UCLA.

Willingham, and Dorrell have out coached the UCLA coaches in the last two meetings, and there is no reason to suspect that it will change this year. Dorrell is obviously on the hot seat right now and has to use every device possible to make sure his team isn't flat a second consecutive week. I don't expect the Bruins to be flat.

Coach Baer and his defensive staff simply need to do a better job than they did last week against Ohio State. While turnovers were the main culprit in the loss, UW didn't read the Buckeyes offense very well. That has to change starting now. For some reason UW is able to anticipate the Bruins better than most of the teams they play.

The rain will be a factor in this one which is unusual for LA. To me that gives a slight advantage to Jake Locker, and keeps the Bruin passing game in check to a certain degree.

I pick Washington to win 27-24 in a hard fought game.

Pac Ten Alley

We head into the UCLA game with a 2-1 record, and a little bitterness because of some lost opportunities last weekend. UCLA on the other hand is absolutely reeling after being blown out on the road by a decided underdog. I wouldn't have predicted a Utah victory after watching the Ute's get run into the ground by Oregon State earlier this year. UCLA for all intents, and purposes came in flat, and tanked the game.

When you look at this UCLA team on paper you have to like what you see, but I was unimpressed with them in their two victories over Stanford, and BYU. They let Stanford stay in the game way too long, and they had to hold off BYU at the end to come up with a win. you factor in what happened in Salt Lake City and you come to the conclusion that this is a poorly motivated team with lots of talent that hasn't been coached very well.

The UCLA offense is purely West Coast, but I like to call it West Coast Conservative because they fail to stretch the field. That conservatism has held them back since Dorrell has been head coach. Jay Norvell was brought in to open it up a bit this year, but Utah exposed them, and with a little pressure forced them into a multitude of mistakes. The Bruins had ten penalties in the game, and that is a sign of an undisciplined team.

When you lose 44-6 it has to have a demoralizing effect on your team. Can UCLA bounce back after such a thrashing? It is going to be interesting to see how the Bruins react on Saturday. If past history is any indicator this team isn't going to come back well. To me it looks like Dorrell has lost control of the team, and when the attitude plunges in Los Angeles, and the beaches and coeds beckon, you are a program in trouble.

Injuries are another trouble spot for this Bruin team. They could have 5-6 key players out, or limited this week. They are even considering playing a true frosh on the defensive line who was just cleared to play after review by the NCAA clearinghouse. Not a pretty picture is it?

It got a little worse on Tuesday evening when word leaked out of Los Angeles that QB Ben Olson could possibly miss the game on Saturday with a concussion. Pat Cowan hasn't practiced much with a hamstring injury but was taking reps with the #1's on Tuesday. If Olson is not practicing by Thursday, Dorrell said he would not play.

How do you recruit so well, and play so terrible? Well like I said yesterday, maybe the Bruins are paying more attention to star rating than film. UCLA has a huge recruiting advantage being in Southern California, and maybe they aren't evaluating well. I mean when you sign your entire 2008 class before the opening whistle of the 2007 season you might be missing on a few things.

Another area of concern is simply development. For the amount of talent the Bruins have they don't improve as much as they should. This is a senior, and experience dominated team that was recruited, and developed almost entirely by Dorrell. Why aren't they getting better? There is no reason to get blown out on the road against a MWC opponent that has an injury list longer than yours.

A widely reported statistic after the game: Dorrell's teams have lost 11 games when they were favored.

Conference Notes

Here is a little snide LA snippet directed at UW.

Washington was an annoying 5-7 team in 2006 -- ask the Bruins, who blew a 16-0 lead in a 29-19 loss. There is no reason to believe the Huskies are any different this season. The Buckeyes rolled up 481 total yards, and Washington quarterback Jake Locker had three passes intercepted.

This is a very sad story concerning husky great Dave Pear.

Dave Pear's speech is halting and he stumbles through his thoughts even though he has a spiral-bound binder of notes in his hands to prompt him. He repeats himself at times and gets frazzled with a brain that simply won't cooperate after too many concussions from his days on the football field.

Nathan Ware of the PI Original Dawgblawg chimes in with an offensive strategy session.

Washington knows what they want to be when they grow up: a big play offense with good balance between running and passing. Unfortunately, with such a young quarterback, it's hard to expect that right now. After all, Locker has only played three games and he's been relied upon to create the entire offensive flow.

The return of USC's rushing game isn't good news for Pac Ten opponents.

USC's performance was not as convincing as LSU's 48-7 victory over Virginia Tech on Sept. 8, but it was still impressive considering the environment -- a Memorial Stadium crowd of 84,959 awash in red -- and the magnitude of the matchup in Nebraska, a state yearning for a football renaissance.

ASU doesn't impress me either...yet.

The Sun Devils have taken care of business by beating three inferior clubs, the latest mismatch a 34-13 victory over San Diego State Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium. ASU’s 3-0 start, even against a soft schedule, shouldn’t be taken for granted. Considering the rash of upsets that have hit college football — UCLA was humbled by Utah on Saturday — any win is a good win.

Oregon was impressive as the Register Guard points out.

A rivalry game that hadn't been decided by more than a touchdown in recent years was instead decided in little more than a quarter this time. And with Oregon now 3-0, with a scoring margin of 139-55, it's time to wonder how good these Ducks can be.

The are writing about Stanford again in the Bay Area.

Stanford's first win under new coach Jim Harbaugh, its first victory in its not-so-new stadium and its first shutout in 11 years were overshadowed by a potentially more significant development Saturday night: Toby Gerhart became the first Stanford rusher to hit the 100-yard mark in three years.

Pac Ten Alley

Well it is that time again to take a walk down the coast and see what the neighbors are up to.

We start off with this weeks opponent UCLA, and I bet you can guess what the topic is.... Nestor, by the way, you got a little play in the Seattle Times this week from Bob Condotta.

Considering how absolutely awful we looked against Utah, it wouldn't seem likely that we could still win eight or nine games. But we are simply not as bad as we looked--almost no team is as bad or as good as their last game. Obviously, I overrated our team, and particularly our quarterback. And even I underrated just how bad our head coach is. (You'll be happy to know that I finally decided against betting the "over" on season wins, and decided to play it game by game. With the Utah odds so high--7 to 1!--a wager was prohibitive, so I am literally minus $1 on UCLA so far, and consider myself very lucky). But there is still talent on hand--it didn't just go away. And perhaps Pat Cowan will be back in a week or two, and he'll change the dynamic, and we'll be at least as good as last year, with an easier schedule. Maybe I'm just girding myself for the possibility of having to see Dorrell around for another year, but would it be that surprising if we beat Washington at home, Oregon State at Corvallis, and then Notre Dame here? If we did that, we would be 5-1, with all the "Blues" solidly back on the bandwagon, and the team full of confidence once again Now, I don't know if any of that would be enough against Cal or Oregon. It certainly wouldn't seem to be against Southern Cal. I would figure that 9-3 is the best we could hope for, and it could get much worse than that, depending on possible internal friction. And it may well be that a loss as devastating as Saturday's cannot be recovered from. But we've seen Donahue's teams get humiliated, and good old Terry bounce back for one of his patented 7-3-1 campaigns. We saw Lavin get massacred at Maples, and destroyed at Durham, and at the end of the year he was still standing. This may well be different, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Ohio State's Todd Boeckman relives the play that broke Washington's back. Once again, hats off to Ohio State.

"Toughness is a big part of being a quarterback," Boeckman said. "You've just got to stand there and make those plays happen, and make the guys believe in you." He did just that Saturday on a first-half pass to Brian Hartline at Washington. The television audience and the 74,000 people in Husky Stadium could see that Boeckman was a sitting duck for a linebacker hellbent on delivering a hit. Boeckman could see it, too, but he didn't wince. He stood until he saw the whites of the linebacker's eyes, then he fired a strike to Hartline. "The 'backer came right up the middle, nobody touched him, and I took a shot," Boeckman said. "It is always kind of nice to know you can take that hit and still deliver the ball."

Wyoming is complaining that Boise State piped in some crowd noise. That is similar to saying there are wind currents in the Carrier Dome.

One of the more strange things to come out of the Boise State-Wyoming game was Cowboys coach Joe Glenn’s complaints about noise being piped in at Bronco Stadium. Glenn said the noise was audible in the first half, but not the second. He said: “That’s not right.You don’t do that stuff. That’s against the law, against the rules.” One of the team’s main complaints was about the stampede/horse noises that play sometimes before opponents have a third down. The noise can be played until a team breaks its huddle. Since the Cowboys mostly go out of a no-huddle offense, most of the problem stemmed from that. Chris Petersen addressed it Monday, saying: “I think that our crowd is so awesome, and so loud that that’s the problem. The problem for them was the crowd.”

USC had no problem putting away Nebraska. the Trojans got the style points they needed to stay #1.

USC scored only 28 points on Nebraska last year, and Nebraska's defensive group is better than a year ago. That bodes well for the Huskers, he reckoned, agreeing with many Nebraska fans' thinking that if USC lost to Oregon State a year ago, and the Huskers are better than Oregon State, well . . . .

ASU has it's first true test of the year against Oregon State this week. We will find out exactly how good both of these teams are after this one. I have serious doubts about ASU, I am not buying that they are back after a easy pre conference schedule.

Erickson wants Arizona State (3-0), a 12-point favorite, to realize that the Beavers (2-1) are closer to the team that routed the Sun Devils 44-10 last year, even with a new quarterback. Oregon State is second nationally in rushing defense and 13th in total defense. ASU is 13th in rushing defense and sixth in total defense.

Oregon was impressive in it's win over Fresno State. The most impressive aspect may have been the rush defense.

While Dixon threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, Jonathan Stewart ran for 165 yards. Stewart scored two touchdowns, including a flashy 88-yard dash (pictured) to the end zone, and the Ducks (3-0) outrushed the Bulldogs 307-60. Stewart's 88 yard scoring run was the longest ever at Autzen Stadium, and it was the longest for a Ducks player for a TD since Bob Smith ran 92 yards for a score against Idaho in 1938. "The sky's the limit right now. This offense is really clicking," Dixon said.

Arizona has surprised most pundits by under performing this season. I'm not surprised, whenever you retool an offense, expect problems.

Arizona’s football program had high expectations heading into the season, and the players still do. But few on the Wildcat roster expected Arizona to be 1-2 heading into the Pac-10 opener at California. “We are very shocked,” UA receiver Delashaun Dean said. “I think everybody expected us to be 3-0 coming into Pac-10 play. As a team we know things happen and the ball is not going to roll in your court and you have to stay positive and stay focused.”

Stanford got a big monkey off it's back beating SJSU. Tomey isn't amused at all because this was the opportunity to stick a fork in the Stanford revival. ASU's victory over SJSU doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore.

Don’t know if you’ve seen or heard about San Jose State Coach Dick Tomey’s postgame handshake with Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh. If you could even call it a handshake. It was more like a no-look stiff-arm. If Tomey’s players had shown that kind of fire, SJSU might not have lost 37-0.

Oregon State gets ready to face old head coach Dennis Erickson and ASU.

Next Monday will mark the one year anniversary of the first meeting between Mike Riley and Dennis Erickson as opposing collegiate head coaches. Riley won the first match up 38-0, but Dennis was with the Idaho Vandals. This year, Erikson had a talented group at Arizona State, and hopes to get payback for last year.

Cal can score on anyone, but if they want to beat USC this year they better get a lot better on defense. Injuries on defense are not helping them.

Although Cal's football team suddenly has serious concerns about its defensive depth, the Bears will head into Pac-10 play this week with a No.6 national ranking. Cal (3-0) climbed two spots to No.6 in The Associated Press poll on Sunday after a 42-12 home victory over Louisiana Tech. Former No.6 Texas (3-0) fell to No.7 after a 35-32 win over Central Florida, and former No.7 Wisconsin (3-0) fell to No.9 after a 45-31 win over The Citadel. Cal remained No.8 in the USA Today coaches poll. It's the Bears' highest ranking since they were No.4 in 2004, but the team has no time to bask in the glory after suffering three significant injuries on defense Saturday. Starting defensive linemen Matt Malele and Rulon Davis were on crutches with foot injuries at Cal's conditioning practice Sunday night, and although the players weren't expected to undergo an MRI until today, defensive coordinator Bob Gregory isn't counting on having either back anytime soon.

Brinkhater is unimpressed by another ho hum WSU victory because "reality" is coming this weekend riding a big white horse, a maroon skirt, and a golden helmet.

Hope you are all still basking in the glow of the 45-28 who-cares-fest that was Saturday night...Don't know about you all, but watching that game was like putting various body parts in a vice and just tightening, tightening, and tightening......So, as we head into the conference slate and this weekend's game against CONQUEST, here are a few takes (and please add yours) regarding the upcoming game and conference tilt.

Hawaii is playing someone called Charleston Southern this week, not exactly the way to prepare if you want to go to a BCS Bowl at the end of the year.

"I thought the overall scheme was settled and got going. I could see an attitude start to happen now. Hopefully we are going to start taking the ball away a little bit more. The only thing that we have fallen short, we have had a lot of chances and hands on the ball and we have not been coming down with them. The second we start coming down with then it will snowball. Greg has gotten to do what he wants them to do. We are playing hard, I thought Ryan Mouton did some good things, he will get on the field more, the linebackers were flying around too."

Taking a Close Look at UCLA

In four years at UCLA, coach Karl Dorrell has posted a 29- 21 record and a 1- 4 bowl mark. The Bruins' offense scored only 23.0 PPG in 2006. That resulted in the hiring of a Jay Norvell as the new offensive coordinator.

Norvell worked at Nebraska last season. He's the fourth offensive coordinator in five years. Look for UCLA to utilize the shotgun, use more complex schemes with various options and push for a more up-tempo game. Ten starters return to the offense. QB Ben Olsen (63.7% COMP, 822 YDs, 5 TDs, 5 INTs) started the season but was out with a knee injury. Patrick Cowan (52.5% COMP, 1,782 YDs, 11 TDs, 9 INTs) came in and proved to be adequate but not as mobile, strong or statistically sound.

Olsen is back and after a good spring camp will start again. TB Chris Markey's (35 REC, 261 YDs, 7.5 AVG, 0 TDs; 227 CAR, 1,107 YDs, 4.9 AVG, 2 TDs) primary job is carrying the ball, but he can also catch it. Senior SE Marcus Everett (31 REC, 450 YDs, 14.5 YDs, 5 TDs) heads a deep receiving unit. The line looks solid and aggressive.

On defense, a group that allowed only 19.9 PPG, the Bruins offer perhaps the best secondary in the conference. The linebackers are small but fast and able to make plays. The front line returns four solid seniors.

Last season the Bruins got off to a solid 5- 1 start and then lost four in a row. UCLA started off with wins against Stanford, and BYU, but trouble hit Dorrell and company early after getting absolutely pasted last week by decided underdog Utah 44-6 on the road. Utah by the way was killed in Corvallis only a couple weeks ago by a very one dimensional Oregon State squad. Utah took advantage of UCLA's mistakes, scoring 30 straight points to defeat the Bruins for the first time ever. UCLA didn't do much to help itself. The Bruins finished with 10 penalties, and they also turned the ball over five times.

How exactly does that happen?

For one thing the Bruin's aren't executing well at all on offense, and they just lost their two top lineman on each side of the ball to injury as they move into conference play. The Bruins say they were caught looking ahead to the conference schedule, and didn't take the Ute's seriously, but the margin of victory to a middling opponent points to serious problems that have nothing to do with looking ahead. UCLA's coaching staff has had way too much turnover during Dorrell's tenure, and as we have seen at UW turnover in coaches doesn't help develop players as they have to enter each Spring learning a new system rather than honing what they already know.

UCLA has been hit by some crippling early season injuries. Three of starters (Davis, Tevaga, and Everett) were hurt in the closing five minutes of the Utah game when the team is already behind by over 30 points. Doesn't sound like good coaching to me. DE Brigham Harwell will miss the game after being injured the previous week. LB Aaron Whittington looks to be out also after suffering a concussion. QB Patrick Cowan who has been out since camp with a bad ankle may be back this week.

Ben Olsen shoulders a lot of responsibility for the Utah loss even though there were Ute's in the backfield all day. Olsen should be getting better at this point, but it seems he is regressing because he doesn't see the whole field at this point in his career. What bout the offensive line made up of blue chip recruits, why can't they protect the quarterback against a middle of the road Mountain West team?

One thing that is interesting to point out is UCLA is basically done recruiting for 2008, and they are bringing in a full class. It makes me think that even though it is heavy on 4-5 star players that maybe the staff is missing something by not evaluating these players a little during their senior seasons. Dorrell seems a little like his old room mate Rick Neuheisel when it comes to evaluation.

Last week was a huge letdown for the men in powder blue, and you have to pin it on a fragmented coaching staff for not getting them to prepare better. We have been watching talented UCLA teams tank it in explicit fashion for years, and this one seems to have decided to head to the beaches of Santa Monica in September rather than October.

UCLA needs to bounce back this week or it is going to be a long final season for Coach Dorrell in Los Angeles.

What does this mean for Washington?

It means that we should have played them last week for one thing. UCLA is not as bad as it played, and they will regroup for the first conference game of the season. I have been saying for over a year now that Willingham, and Lappano own Dorrell and his staff, and they do, look at the past two years and you will see out manned Washington teams outplaying the Bruins each time.

LA games are big for the Husky program since a large amount of Husky players are from that area. Washington is going to have no problem getting up for this one at all. The Huskies knocked off the Bruins in convincing fashion last year in Seattle, and they almost knocked off the Trojans in the Coliseum. I think Washington is going to give these guys a game, and come out on top simply because they are a better coached team than UCLA.

Washington needs to get into the defensive backfield better this week to put pressure on Olsen. They also have to minimize the mistakes on offense that have hampered them the last six quarters. UW hasn't been the same on offense since the second half of the Boise game started, and they need to play a lot cleaner. If UW minimizes the mistakes they can head into the USC game with a 3-1 record.

UCLA leads the all-time series 35-29-2 and has dominated of late, winning eight of the past 10 games. The Bruins have not lost at home since 1995, but the Huskies came close the last time they visited the Rose Bowl. In 2005, the Huskies held a 17-7 fourth-quarter lead before UCLA scored 14 points for the win. Maurice Drew scored a 1-yard touchdown with just over a minute to play to clinch the win. Washington turned the tables at Husky Stadium in 2006. Trailing 16-0, the Huskies mounted a comeback, inspired the crowd and won 20-19.

When Huskies coach Tyrone Willingham came to Washington and played UCLA for the first time in 2005, it marked the first time two black head coaches squared off in a Pac-10 game. At the time, there was just one other black coach heading a major NCAA football program. The series between the two coaches is even at 1-1.

Everything you ever wanted to know about UCLA

The University of California, Los Angeles (generally known as UCLA) is a public university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established as a branch of the state university in 1919, it is the second-oldest general-purpose campus in the University of California system and has the largest enrollment of any university in the state.

UCLA's athletic teams, the Bruins, have won 121 national championships, including 100 NCAA team championships as of 2007—more than any other university in the country.

The school's sports teams are called the Bruins, with colors "true blue" (an official shade of blue) and gold. The Bruins participate in NCAA Division I-A as part of the Pacific Ten Conference. Two notable sports facilities serve as home venues for UCLA sports. The Bruin men's football team plays home games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California; the team won a national title in 1954. The men's and women's basketball and men's and women's volleyball teams, and the gymnastics team (women's) play at Pauley Pavilion on campus. The school also sponsors men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, women's rowing, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's water polo.

When Henry "Red" Sanders came to UCLA to coach football in 1949, the uniforms were redesigned. Sanders added a gold loop on the shoulders—the UCLA Stripe. The navy blue was changed to a lighter shade of blue. Sanders figured that the baby blue would look better on the field and in film. He dubbed the baby blue uniform "Powder Keg Blue".

UCLA shares a traditional sports rivalry with the nearby University of Southern California. USC is generally perceived as the dominant football team, while UCLA tends to succeed in basketball. In football, USC has 11 Division I national champion teams, and 35 Pacific Coast Conference titles. UCLA has one national champion team, and 16 conference titles. Under John Wooden, UCLA became a dominating power in men's basketball, winning 11 NCAA championships, against USC's none.

The origin is unclear, but the rivalry most likely started when football Hall of Fame coach Red Sanders led UCLA to dominance in the 1950s. USC, long before established as the reigning power, diverted its attention from then-rival University of Notre Dame, and the rivalry began. Games between the two schools have no official name, but the week preceding it is known as "Blue and Gold Week" (formerly "Beat 'SC Week"). During this week, students participate in traditions known throughout the UCLA student body, with activities such as a blood drive aptly titled "Get the Red Out", a beat USC car smash, and a parade ending with a bonfire at the bottom of Janss Steps.

Last Weeks Question:

Will Washington Beat Ohio State?

Yes 49% (32 votes)

No 26% (17 votes)

UW wins by two or more TD's 9% (6 votes)

tOSU wins by two or more TD's 15% (10 votes)


This Weeks Question?

Will Washington Beat UCLA?

Both teams are coming off a couple of tough losses. Who is going to come out on top?

The Monday Morning Wash

If you are a Husky fan Saturday was very tough to watch because victory was very much in the grasp until a series of fatal breakdowns in the third quarter provided Ohio State with a 14 point turn around.

..."it felt like a fistfight...I feel like I have been hit by a truck........I haven't been hit that hard in a long time.... we were told they would not let up and they didn't."

That was a quote from one of the Ohio State players, and while UW lost the game because of way too many mistakes, one thing is very evident. The old UW toughness is coming back, and one of the toughest football programs in football history felt like it had been run over by a truck.

Of course this is small solace after such a tough loss, but it is a very good sign that the legacy of Owens, James, and Lambright is finally back playing in Husky Stadium. This is a good Husky team, not a great one, but a good one capable of beating anyone, and they learned some very tough lessons out there on the field Saturday that will help them in the future.

My brother in law who I watched the game with said they had plenty of opportunities to bury Ohio State, but when the Buckeyes were still in the game mid third quarter experience, depth, and talent took over. tOSU may be a little down, but they do have a legacy of knowing how to win, and are very good at wearing down an opponent, and that is what ended up happening on Saturday afternoon.

Late in the game the camera's panned the Ohio State coaching staff, and they looked relived to me rather than jubliant. You could see in their eyes that they had a lot of respect for Washington, and they felt they had just succesfully traveresed a mine field.

Up next is UCLA who is coming off what can only be termed as a shocking loss to Utah. UCLA gave the Ute's plenty to work with and they took advantage almost every time in a 44-6 upset on Saturday. The Utes forced five turnovers and kept the Bruins from scoring a touchdown for the first time in four years. Utah outscored UCLA 30-0 in the second half! This was a team that was blown out a couple of weeks ago by one dimensional Oregon St? The Bruins committed 10 penalties and unraveled in the second half of their first-ever loss to Utah .

My point is who would you rather be Monday morning? UCLA, or Washington? who is playing closer to their potential right now? UCLA, or Washington?

The Huskies always have problems in the Rose Bowl, but as I have said all Summer the Bruins have big problems despite all the talent they have stockpiled. Dorrell is losing his team early this year. historically UCLA has a tendency to fold after a game like this.

Willingham and Lappano have out coached these guys every time they have played. sure we are 1-1 against them in this era, but we are only a missed tackle away from being 2-0. I really like Washington's chances next weekend in Los Angeles.

Keep you heads up Husky fans, last week was a tough loss, but consider the fact that Ohio State is likely to end the season in the top ten and head to another BCS bowl. Consider the fact that two years ago they would have blown us out of the stadium. Most importantly consider the fact that he had a good chance to beat these guys if we had executed better, and taken what they were giving us.

Pac Ten Round Up

We already talked about the UCLA/Utah debacle, but Rick Neuheisel must be licking his chops right now realizing that he is good shape to take over his alma mater nest season if the slide continues.

Justin Forsett didn't think much about tearing through Louisiana Tech's defense for 152 yards and a career-best three touchdowns. The California tailback only dwelled on that play where he tackled himself by tripping over his own feet -- and the other play where he ran smack into the back of Brian De La Puente, his own offensive lineman. The No. 8 Golden Bears are both unbeaten and unsatisfied after finishing their non conference schedule with a 42-12 victory Saturday.

Oregon State had no problem getting back on track beating Idaho State 61-10. Jesuit HS was busy. Sean Canfield threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns, Sammie Stroughter had 160 yards receiving and two touchdowns, and Oregon State cruised to a 61-10 win over Idaho State Saturday.

Dennis Dixon left the dramatics to Jonathan Stewart. While Dixon threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, Jonathan Stewart ran for 165 yards and No. 19 Oregon beat Fresno State 52-21 on Saturday night. Stewart scored two touchdowns, including a flashy 88-yard dash to the end zone, and the Ducks (3-0) outrushed the Bulldogs 307-60.

In many ways, it was just like the old days at Nebraska, with a top-ranked team running all over an overmatched opponent in front of a crazy crowd at Memorial Stadium. The difference was the Cornhuskers were the team getting pushed around Saturday night and No. 1 Southern California was doing the dominating. The Trojans got physical with the No. 14 Nebraska in a 49-31 victory, piling up 313 yards on the ground. Stafon Johnson led USC's tailback brigade with 144 yards and the Trojans averaged 8.2 yards per rush.

Donovan Porterie threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night, and New Mexico beat a Pac-10 team for the second time in school history, 29-27 over mistake-prone Arizona. Mike Stoops better hope his brother has a spot open next year on the Oklahoma staff because his team is going in the wrong direction quickly.

Alex Brink threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns as Washington State beat Idaho 45-28 in the 90th Battle of the Palouse on Saturday. It was another win for the Cougars, but giving up 28 points against a hapless team like Idaho spells big trouble at WSU.

Rudy Carpenter threw for 200 yards and two touchdowns and Keegan Herring filled in for leading rusher Ryan Torain with two scores as well in Arizona State's 34-13 win Saturday night over San Diego State. I don't know what to think of ASU at this point. If you measure them against WSU after this one it isn't that impressive.

Toby Gerhart ran for 140 yards and a touchdown Saturday night to lead Stanford to its first win in seven tries in its newly renovated stadium, 37-0 over San Jose State in the Cardinal's first shutout in more than a decade. SJSU seems to have taken a major step backward. Good first win by Coach Harbaugh.

Pac Ten Power Ratings

1. Southern California....the Trojans win with style points over Nebraska to keep the #1 rating in the polls. (Rising)

2. California....After stumbling around last week the Bears put together a complete game on both sides of the ball against an undermanned opponent. (Holding)

3. Oregon....The Ducks offense is in high gear, and Jonathan Stewart is starting to come to form. I still have doubts about their defense, but the Michigan win looks better this week. (Rising)

4. Arizona State....The Sun Devils haven't had a challenging schedule to open the season with, but they are undefeated and until someone exposes them I am keeping them in the upper division. (Holding)

5. Washington....The Huskies have the nations toughest schedule and head into UCLA next week 2-1. but it could have been 3-0 if they had eliminated the mistakes. (Holding)

6. UCLA....The Bruins are in trouble after getting bounced badly by the Ute's. Washington is next in the Rose Bowl. (Falling)

6. Oregon State....Whenever you drub a team like Idaho State it really means nothing, but Riley is a good coach that makes his team better every week. (Rising)

8. Washington State....The Cougars are giving up way too many points, but that offense gives them a chance in most games. (Rising)

9. Stanford....That was a good win by Harbaugh and company over SJSU, and a good step in the right direction towards getting a little respect in the Bay Area. (Rising)

10. Arizona....The Wildcats shouldn't be this bad at this stage of Stoops rebuilding process. But like Oregon State are 1-0 in the Big Sky. (Falling)

Dawgs go Down to Buckeyes

Hat's off to Ohio State for sticking to it's game plan, and wearing a young University of Washington team down enroute to victory. Washington had their chances, but you can't make mistakes against the tenth ranked team in the country, and Washington kept making them all day long. The Huskies had four turnovers, a couple of dropped interceptions, and some ill timed penalties which sealed their doom on a day that the mighty Buckeyes were very beatable.

Washington led 7-3 at the half, but could have of blown the Buckeyes out if they hadn't fumbled at the five yard line on one drive, and dropped a couple of key interception opportunities deep in Buckeye territory.

The two quick touchdowns, which followed a long Washington drive that ended up scoreless at the OSU 19, turned a 7-3 UW lead into a 17-7 deficit with 8:57 left in the third quarter. The Buckeyes' hold on the game was never seriously threatened again.

Ryan Perkins had another field goal blocked at the conclusion of that drive, and a long Boeckman pass to Brian Robiskie two plays later for a 68-yard catch-and-run touchdown put the Buckeyes ahead 10-3. On the kickoff Curtis Shaw fumbled the kickoff, giving Ohio State the ball at the Huskies' 25. Two plays later, Wells ran 14 yards for a touchdown to make it 17-7.

Washington at this point was forced to play catchup with the Buckeyes suddenly in control. Washington did try to come back, but a drive to the Ohio State 23 late in the third quarter ended when middle linebacker James Laurinaitis picked off a Locker pass, his second of the game, confusing the UW quarterback by dropping back into coverage after faking a blitz.

At that point the game the depth and experience of the Buckeyes took over and Washington never seriously challenged again even though they scored a late TD, but OSU was able to tack another score on to end the game in garbage time.

The key to the game was the OSU defense, and Washington mistakes. Washington needed to play a clean game against the Buckeyes to win, and put them on their heals early. The Huskies didn't get it done early, and the patient Buckeyes finally broke them down in the third quarter when the Huskies continued making crucial errors.

UW should bounce back from this, they are a good young football team, but it is unfortunate that they didn't take advantage of what was given to them yesterday. Chalk this loss up to being a painful lesson of youth, but someday in the near future this team will look back on a day like this and use those lessons to beat more powerful opponents.

UW / Ohio State Matchups

We take a brief look to compare the components of the two football teams who will square off in Seattle on Saturday before a national television audience on ESPN.

(Just a quick note, I will be watching the game in Michigan this weekend, and there is a good chance I won't have internet access during the game. I will get the post game report up some time after the game on Saturday night.)

This looks to be a close game with the winner being the team that makes the least mistakes, controls the line of scrimmage, and is able to score in the red zone. Field position will be key in this game for both schools since both teams come in with good defenses. The Ohio State defense is one of the best in the country while Washington's may be one of the best on the West Coast. Washington's front seven can play with anyone.

Offensively Washington has a decided edge with Jake Locker at the helm. The key to the game is whether Ohio State can control Jake Locker. The key for Washington is preventing that, and getting him more help from the other skill positions. Washington doesn't need to change dramatically what they have been doing, but showing the Buckeyes some stuff they haven't seen on film yet is always a good idea.

Quarterback - Washington - Jake Locker is a true difference maker, and with him at the helm the Huskies have a very good chance of beating a team with more talent, and depth on the roster. Boeckman has been mistake prone to start the year, and the Buckeye offense has been disappointing. The Buckeyes could pull Boeckman early if he struggles. Locker gives the Huskies a huge advantage offensively. Once again, think about what Dennis Dixon did to Michigan, and what Florida's Tebow did to tOSU last season in the championship game. The Big Ten hasn't shown it can handle mobile QB's.

Running Backs - Even - Ohio State is famous for the power running game, and they always have some good athletes in their stable. Beanie Wells is a huge power running back that will batter the middle of the line all day. That being said, like the rest of the Buckeye offense this year, the running game has had problems getting going. Louis Rankin regressed last week, and he needs to hit the hole and stop dancing against one of the best defenses in the country. I call this one even because both teams have been inconsistent. We might see a little more Brandon Johnson this week. Do you guys ever isolate on Paul Homer, and watch him block? The kid does a great job, and really hasn't been stopped in short yardage situations this year. Kravitz is back this week, albeit with a cast to protect his knuckle.

Wide Receivers - Washington - The Huskies have a lot more experience, and they need to eliminate the dropsies that killed them in the second half against Boise State. Boeckman has been really inconsistent hitting his receivers. He actually has been more consistent hitting opposing defensive backs. You know OSU has the talent, but they haven't put it all together yet. This is pretty close, but I think the huskies have the slight edge due to experience, and Marcel Reese.

Tight End - Ohio State - I have no idea who Ohio State's tight end is, and I am not going to bother looking it up because Washington TE's have been absent from the offense this year catching only one ball so far. UW needs to get come production out of these guys starting this week. Could be Lappano has been keeping this part of the game under wraps.

Offensive Line - Washington - You would think that Ohio State would be better than UW in this area, but they haven't shown it since the Buckeyes have had trouble running, and passing against two pretty undistinguished opponents. Both teams have huge lines, and the Buckeyes are actually bigger, but the poor running numbers against sub par opponents gives UW the edge in this one. Casey Bulyca is questionable after hurting his ribs, chances are he will play, and Habben will spell him.

Defensive Line - Washington - Both teams have very good, defensive lines, but the Huskies will have an easier go of it facing the Buckeye offense. Ohio State is very vulnerable to mobile QB's, and Locker is going to drive them crazy. Mr Rankin on the other hand is going to have a pretty tough task running against these guys. I give Washington the edge because they have done a great job of rushing only 3-4 this year and still coming up with sacks. Boeckman isn't mobile at all so look for him to go down a few times.

Linebacker - Ohio State - Once again both teams are pretty even, but I give a slight edge to Ohio State. Those Ohio State LB's are going to be the key if they are going to stop Jake Locker. The Buckeyes have two of the best LB's in the country, while UW's crew is proving to be one of the fastest. I think both units are going to have good days, and UW's have the easier job going up against the tOSU offense. Speed kills, and UW's linebackers have an advantage against Ohio State's offense. Brute strength, and running ability also can kill, and Jake Locker is going to have his hands full against these animals.

Defensive Back - Ohio State - Washington has done a good job so far this year, but tOSU is deep, and talented in the defensive backfield. UW will probably be ranked below most this season until they get more depth, and that only comes with recruiting. Vonzell McDowell is still learning, and look for the Buckeyes to try to give him another lesson.

Special Teams - Even - Pretty much a toss up going into this one. UW needs to improve kickoff coverage, but the punting, and place kicking have been pretty good so far. Ryan Perkins needs to get the ball up quicker, and higher. Ohio State always has a few fast guys that can burn you on returns, so UW really needs to improve in this area. It is concern over return coverage that could give Ohio State the slight edge. Ohio State has had kickoff coverage problems too which is typical of a young team. This might just be the week that Brandon Johnson takes one to the house. Based on the way the two teams have played so far I am calling it even.

Summary

I predicted a 27-13 win for Washington in my preview yesterday based on the fact that the Husky offense seems way ahead of the Buckeye offense at this point in time. For Ohio State to win they need to shut down Locker completely, and I don't think anyone can do that. Locker isn't just a runner, he is also an excellent passer. UW would have scored another three touchdowns last weekend if the receivers has held onto the ball. The teams that beat Washington this year are going to have good Qb's that can lead an offense to score more points than UW. Ohio State doesn't have a good quarterback. Ohio State's offensive line isn't cohesive at this point, and Beanie Wells doesn't come close to playing to his potential every down.

Experts who have seen both teams play are predicting a Washington upset. sure their are exceptions here, and there, but the Midwest experts are saying Washington in this one. Most feel the Ohio State offense has too much ground to make up no matter what they have been holding back to score enough points to beat Washington.

Art Thiel Wordsmith

If you are a Husky fan you might have mixed emotions about PI Sports Editor Art Thiel. Art has always called them as he sees them, and during some of the Huskies troubling years you may not have liked what he wrote, but if you were a realist you had to give him credit. Art believe it, or not is a Husky fan, he is also a graduate of the University of Washington. He didn't like what was going on at Montlake anymore than we did during those times. As a lead sports columnist he is one of those people who can actually initiate change with a few strokes of his pen.

This morning he wrote an excellent column on the culture of athletics at Ohio State. I thought it deserved special mention in the blog. I touched on some of this in a different last week when I wrote my "Meanderings from a Different Viewpoint" thread in Dawgman, and on the blog. I used the current athletic administration at Oregon as an example in contrast to what is currently going on at Washington under Willingham.

If you haven't seen the video of the Oregon mascot attacking the Houston mascot a little over a week a go I have a link to it in a previous thread. you really need to take a look at it because it really shows the current direction of the Oregon athletic administration. By the way the Oregon student behind the mascot outfit was suspended for only one game. In my opinion he should have been thrown out of school.

Here are a few choice excerpts from Art's column this morning.

"When you win a game, you riot. When you lose a game, you riot. When spring comes, you riot. AfricanAmerican Heritage Festival weekend, you riot," Holbrook said. "They think it's fun to flip cars, to really have absolute drunken orgies. ... I don't want to be at a place that has this kind of culture as a norm."

Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying "absolute drunken orgies" are right or wrong. In fact, I believe it's a degree program at Washington State. It's just that the UW is about a 12 Jell-O-shot underdog right out of the tailgate.

Or, as they might describe the UW in Columbus, a junior college with a nice shoreline.

Very nice job Art, thanks once again for making us think, and be careful if you ever visit Columbus.

Husky Video of the Week

Another Good Reason to Hate Oregon

I don't think I have ever witnessed such a classless act, but that is your typical game day activity when you visit Eugene, Oregon.

The idiot wearing the mascot suit was suspended by the AD. Only suspended? He should be kicked out of school, and the mascot from the other team should press assault charges and sue the University of Oregon. There are some very nice Oregon fans out there, some I count as friends, but as a whole it is a classless lot.

There really isn't any place for this behavior in intercollegiate athletics. Once again another ominous sign that the University of Oregon athletic department has little institutional control, and the kid in the suit will end up being a senior VP at Nike some day.

Video of Oregon Duck Mascot Attacking Houston Cougar

Washington vs Ohio State Preview

Washington faces off against #10 Ohio State in Husky Stadium on Saturday in front of national TV audience on ESPN. Both teams are undefeated with 2-0 records heading into the game. Ohio State started the season with wins over Youngstown State, and Akron. Washington has victories over Syracuse, and Boise State.

When Ohio State has the Ball

When you play Ohio State you know exactly what you are getting, and that is run first, and pass second. The Buckeyes are going to come out and play power football, and that means they are going to try to establish the run against a veteran Washington defensive front that is backed by the best trio of linebackers the school has had since it's glory days.

Ohio State isn't going to come at Washington with the multitude of formations we saw last weekend against Boise State. What you are going to see is straight forward possession football where you pit your big guys, against their big guys and see who ends up dominating the line of scrimmage. Look for the Buckeyes to line up a couple of power backs and let it rip.

The key for Ohio State is simply moving the pile and picking up chunks of yardage at 5-6 yard clips. The key for Washington on defense is to shut down the run and force the Buckeyes and their rookie QB to start throwing the ball. Expect the Baer defense to give them the easy one's underneath, and let the LB's who are extremely fast get a chance to cover, tackle, and minimize those gains.

Todd Boeckman is a promising QB who can throw the ball when he needs to, and has a good handle on running his team. I'm not sure if he is better than the QB we saw last week, Taylor Tharp, but he is going to be forced to make the same type of plays Tharp did to keep the Buckeyes moving against the famous Baer soft zone. Boeckman isn't a runner, he is fairly immobile, and Washington is going to need guys like Rayford, Gunheim, and Teo Nesheim to pressure him during the day to force some mistakes. UW has done a very good job just rushing four in the first two games, and don't look for that to stop unless Ohio State finds a way to solve it.

I don't expect our LB's to blitz much, or at all despite the temptation to attack a QB who doesn't have great wheels. Look for UW to be content keeping everything in front of them. UW hasn't used much of it's defensive playbook this year, expect to see some different looks just to keep the Buckeyes honest.

Washington knows they have the type of defense that can keep the Buckeyes from scoring enough points to beat them if they can stop the run. Ohio State turned the ball over five times last week against the mighty Akron Zips, they can't do that and stay in the game against Washington.

When Washington has the Ball

The eyes of the football world are beginning to follow Jake Locker who just might be the most exciting new player in college football. Jake is going to be going up against a much tougher obstacle this week when he faces the Ohio State defense. What Ohio State brings to the table is great athletes, and lots of depth. While they don't have the experience that past teams have this unit can really thump.

The first thing you look at is the linebacking corps anchored by James Laurinaitis. Syracuse, and Boise State didn't have a player like him. Locker has eaten up the LB's the past two games, but the strongest part of the Ohio State defense is the LB corp, and they are going to be keying on Jake.

What Washington needs to do is open up the playbook and get some help from positions like Tight End, and Fullback which have been sparingly used over the last two weeks. The offensive line also needs to open some holes for Louis Rankin so he can hit the crease more and use his speed. Count on the Buckeyes to bring eight in the box to stop that running game from the get go. Count on Washington to finally open up a longer range passing game to try to keep Ohio State from cheating forward. When you play an opponent like this you need balance to counteract what they are doing.

Ohio State is very good at creating turnovers so Locker, and Rankin need to hold onto the ball better this week. Ohio State hits hard, they go for the ball, and they know how to complete their tackles.

UW pulled a trick play out of the hat last week against Boise State and was successful with it. Willingham isn't above using trickery because it keeps the team you are playing, and future opponents on their toes. In other words you slow opposing defense down when you make them think too much.

Intangibles

Ohio State is used to playing in loud venues because they play in one of the loudest in the Midwest, however Husky Stadium is probably the loudest in the country when it gets rocking in there. Ask any opposing quarterback and he will tell you that it is difficult to even hear yourself think down on the playing field.

So much of college football is emotion, and to have a No. 10 team come in to your place, when you're unranked but feeling good about yourself ... well, it will be loud and a tough environment for the Buckeyes, many of whom have not played a big road game yet.

Ohio State is likely to play both of its QBs again --- starter Todd Boeckman and backup Robby Schoenhoft. Baer said Schoenhoft appears to be a little better runner but that for the most part, things don't change much based on which QB is in the game. "You don't change how you play by which QB is in the game,'' he said. "You can't do that.''

Tim Lappano said he may throw more on the plate of Jake Locker this week in terms of throwing the ball. Lappano said he hasn't wanted to call any plays that Locker hasn't been comfortable with, but that Locker told him this week "don't worry about appeasing me, do what you've got to do to win the game.'' Lappano said he thinks Locker has thrown the ball well in the two games. "I thought his downfield throws were pretty good,'' he said.

OSU ranks last in the Big Ten in rushing offense (171.5 yards per game), yards per carry (4.18) and total offense (390.0). And this despite playing a Division I-AA team and a Mid-American Conference team. The Buckeyes have had back-to-back gains of 4 yards or more on just six of their 26 possessions.

Baer was asked about looking at tape of what Florida did to Ohio State's offense and said "you have to take some things off of some of those games,'' and pointed out that he's good friends with Greg Mattison who is a co-defensive coordinator at Florida. "I've talked to him quite a bit,'' Baer said. Mattison was on Tyrone Willingham's staff at Notre Dame.

Tyrone Willingham had no real update on any of the team's injured players from what he had said Monday other than indicating that he expects CB Byron Davenport to be able to play. "We got one great play out of him last week so this week we'll hope for two great plays.''

In the Akron interview room after the Buckeyes downed the Zips 20-2 no one came right out and said it. But the inferences were obvious. Offensively, the Buckeyes are not a top-10 football team. The Buckeyes gained 363 total yards and rushed for 196, but no one who actually could see the game felt the OSU offense was anywhere near where it should be. Tailback Chris Wells rushed for 143 yards in 20 carries, but three of his carries gained 25-, 40- and 24-yards, or 89 of his total yards. The other 17 carries? 53 yards.

Five turnovers three lost fumbles, two interceptions -- are going to add up to a struggle in the best of circumstances for any team, and Ohio State did that against the Akron Zips. You do that against Washington and you lose by at least three touchdowns.

Defensively, the Buckeyes are as good as anyone in the country. The Zips mustered only three first downs, three yards rushing (on 19 attempts) and 69 yards total offense. The Ohio State record for fewest yards allowed was 27 by Michigan in 1950.

Willingham said Ohio State will unquestionably be the best defense UW has seen to date and "probably could be the best defense we'll face all season," a statement he may reprise in a few weeks when USC thought by some to have the best defense in the nation comes to town.

Washington made it's first field goal attempt of the year against Boise State, but had the other one blocked. Perkins needs to get the ball up in the air a lot quicker to avoid that from happening against Ohio State in a game where three points could be the margin of victory.

Why Ohio State Will Win

Ohio State will win if they can control the line of scrimmage and run the ball on Washington, it is simple as that. The Buckeyes have a big power back named Chris "Beanie" Wells who is around 6'3 230 pounds who is going to try to batter the interior of the Washington line. If the Buckeye offensive line proves to be better than Washington's front seven we are going to be in trouble.

As I said earlier the Buckeyes are very good at creating turnovers, and turnovers usually create good field position, or take potential points off the board. If tOSU can force Washington to make mistakes it is going to take a lot of pressure off their offense and put them in a good position to win the game.

Ohio State isn't going to win this one from the air, it isn't going to happen, but if they can control the time of possession with their running game and get down to the red zone to score they are going to be able to beat Washington.

Why Washington Will Win
Washington will win the game because their defense is going to be able to stop the Ohio State running game, and pressure their young quarterback into making mistakes that will result in turnovers.

The UW offense needs more balance this week, plus they need to eliminate the drive stopping turnovers they had last week. Louis Rankin needs to hit the holes fast and hard this week. He is going up against a big, strong, and fast defense, and he isn't going to be able to out juke these guys.

Marcel Reese is just getting warmed up, if he eliminates the drops, catches it, and just runs there aren't many secondaries, including Ohio State's that can eliminate big plays when he gets isolated on those smaller players.

Washington simply has more firepower on offense with Jake Locker running the controls of the Husky offense. That simple fact is enough for UW to have enough of an advantage coupled with a strong defense to win the game.

What Do I Think?

I think the Washington defense has proven that they can be a force this season even though they are light in the defensive backfield. I think they will be able to hold the Buckeye offense out of the end zone enough to win the game.

Boise State has a very good running game, and a Heisman back running behind an offensive line with plenty of experience and honors. Washington was able to hold Johnson to under 100 yards and that was a big key in that win. If you make Boeckman beat you, just like last week when we put Tharp in the hot seat, UW should have no problem with these guys.

Offensively the Huskies are a much better team than the Buckeyes which simply means they have the ability to put more points on the board. While Jake Locker will be pressured more this week, I don't think any defense can shut him completely down. You can key on him all you want, but once plays break down he has the ability to turn sacks into fifteen yard gains.

Ohio State is a four point favorite going into this one based on reputation only. Observers in the Midwest haven't been impressed at all with this team and are predicting a Washington victory. The Buckeye defense is good, but they simply won't be able to hold back Washington enough to win the game because their offense won't be able to score enough points.

Take a very good look at what happened to Ohio State in last years BCS Championship game, and also take a good look at what Oregon did to Michigan in Ann Arbor last week. A mobile quarterback has the potential to kill Big Ten teams this year, and there aren't many mobile QB's better than Jake Locker at this point.

I am predicting a thirteen point Washington victory that will wake up the nation.

UW 27 Ohio State 14.

Weekly Predictions

Last week I was 11-4 after opening the season 15-1 which gives me a record of 26-5. Texas, Michigan, Wake Forest, Oregon State let me down. Picking TCU to beat Texas was going way out on the limb, and nobody saw Oregon kicking butt in the Big House. I did predict the South Carolina upset which was nice.

Pac Ten Games

Ohio State at Washington

The odds makers have the Buckeyes favored by four but the husky defense and Jake Locker will prove to be too much for Ohio State. I take Washington by 14.

USC at Nebraska

The Trojans play their first real game of the 2007 season in Lincoln. Troy is favored by 10 and I think that is about right. This will be a good way to gauge if the Trojans have re-powered their offense.

Fresno State at Oregon

I don't think the Bulldogs can play with these guys this year, the odds makers don't either installing the Ducks as 16 point favorites. I say the Ducks by 21.

Louisiana Tech vs California

This one is a mismatch on paper, but Tech took Hawaii to overtime last weekend, and Cal's offense gives up a lot of points. Cal is a 33 1/2 point favorite, and I say the Bears win by only 17.

Utah at UCLA

This one is easy, the Bruins should blow these guys out of the Rose Bowl. The odds makers have it at 14, and that is about right for a Dorrell coached team.

San Jose State at Stanford

I have to take San Jose State by 7 points in this one which is the current line.

San Diego State at Arizona State

The line is 28, but ASU will probably win by more. SDSU sucks as we saw last week when they played WSU and made Alex Brink look all world.

New Mexico at Arizona

The Wildcats are favored by 10, and undefeated in Division I-AA, but they take a step up in competition this week. I have to take the Mildcats by 3.

Idaho at WSU

The Coug's are favored by 28, and that is about right in this stinker.

Idaho State at Oregon St

The Beavers will by 35, and this game is such a stinker they aren't even running a line on it. OSU should be ashamed for scheduling this game!

National Games

Notre Dame at Michigan

Usually this is a pretty big game, but both teams come in 0-2 and sport untested quarterbacks. the line says Michigan by 7, but anything can happen because both of these teams stink. I take Michigan by 7.

Tennessee at Florida

I would love to see the Orange and White beat the Gators one of these days, but this won't be the day. Florida is the eight point favorite, and that is about right.

Florida State at Colorado

FSU is favored by 4, but Hawkins is due. I take Colorado by 3 in this one. Just another nail in a good ole boys coffin.

Middle Tennessee St at LSU

I usually wouldn't predict a game like this, but did you see how MTSU stayed with Louisville last week? No spread on this one yet, but if there was I would bet on MTSU to beat the spread.

Boston College at Georgia Tech

This is a big one in the ACC, and the Rambling Wreck is favored by 7. I like BC, my wife went there, so I am going out on a limb and picking BC to keep peace in the family. (When she isn't watching put me down for Georgia Tech...shhhh)

Louisville at Kentucky

Rich Brooks has quietly been rebuilding Kentucky, and Louisville looks a little down to me. The bookies have the Cards by 7, but I am predicting an upset.

Arkansas at Alabama

I can't understand why Arkansas is rated, the odds makers can't either because they have the Tide by 3. I can go with that.

Pac Ten Alley

Usually I would have a lot to write about on a Wednesday morning about the Huskies after two consecutive victories but there isn't alot of news coming out of Montlake this week that hasn't been reported in the newspapers.

I will be doing my previews on Thursday and Friday so I will save what I have for then.

No question about it, Ohio State is a very big game, and Washington has a very good chance to pull off the perceived upset and start the season 3-0. Most of us are pretty optimistic, but out here in the Midwest most writers who have seen Ohio State play this season are predicting a UW victory.

The Pac Ten is making a serious run at the SEC this year as the nations predominate football conference. From top to bottom this is a real tough league, and USC can no longer be considered a shoe in to win the national, or Pac Ten title. Whoever does win the Pac Ten may be the best football team in the country, but because of the brutal schedule I doubt anyone finishes the season undefeated which could prevent the eventual champ from playing for all the marbles.

As for the best team in the country right now it is probably LSU. they just demolished a decent Virginia Tech team last Saturday, and I don't see anyone, including USC, or Cal who is at the same level at this time.

My Top Ten

1. LSU.....Without a doubt the best team in the country right now.
2. USC.....I want to see what these guys can do against Nebraska
3. West Virginia.....This is UW in a year or two.
4. Florida....The Gators are always in there at the end of the year.
5. California....One of the top three offenses in the country.
6. Oklahoma....Solid win over rebuilding Miami.
7. Wisconsin....A team of huge road graders.
8. Texas....They showed who they were against TCU.
9. Penn State....This is Joe's best team this decade.
10. UCLA....Just loaded with talent and led by a coach who doesn't know what to do with it.

Where is Washington in all this? Well we will find out after the Ohio State game. Between you, me, and the fence post, I think they can beat tOSU, and have a very good chance against UCLA, and USC. If we start 4-1, or 5-0 they will make my top ten.

Pac Ten Alley

Once again it is time to take a walk down the coast and our out of conference opponents blogs to see what the neighbors are up to.

Boise State is licking it's wounds after playing the Huskies.

On an otherwise beautiful day in Seattle, the Boise State Broncos tasted disappointment for the first time since the end of the 2005 season. Washington looked sharp in its 24-10 win over the Broncos, especially in the first half. Boise State’s defense did clamp down in the second half, but it was a case of too little, too late. The Huskies had 342 total yards, 119 in the final two quarters.

Ohio State gets a key component of ther passing offense back for the Washington game.

In preparation for the trip to Washington, coach Jim Tressel said at his media luncheon today in the Jack Nicklaus Museum that elusive wide receiver Ray Small, sidelined the first two weeks because of a high-ankle sprain, looked close to 100 percent healthy in practice yesterday.
"Ray will play," Tressel said.

Not a lot of love coming from Nestor for UCLA's play calling in the win over BYU.

How in the world did we all missed this? I went over some of my notes this am and ran into this gem from the Thinker on our offense line’s play against BYU (emphasis mine): "A couple misreads by the backs. (BYU) had a good game plan against us. They must have caught some tendencies on what we were doing, and gambled on making some of those plays. "Uh … so the Thinker is surprised by the fact that the Cougars caught on to what his offense doing? Are you kidding me?Does Dorrell really have that much contempt for the intelligence of UCLA beat writers and alums, students, and fans who read them? Dorrell is surprised that his opponent can predict his sh!tty offense? Geez Karl. Yeah, I am sure those running plays in the second half were not telegraphed. I am sure no one, no one in the stadium, or watching game on television, saw runs coming when you put in your jumbo package in short yardage situations.

At USC they are realizing that the road to the Pac Ten Championship is going to just as challenging as last season.

USC also was reminded that its Pacific 10 Conference schedule will be arduous. Unbeaten Oregon trounced Michigan with a wide-open attack, unbeaten Washington impressed against Boise State, DeSean Jackson kept unbeaten California humming along, Arizona State remained perfect under Dennis Erickson, Washington State quarterback Alex Brink torched San Diego State and UCLA held on against Brigham Young. Even Arizona won.

Arizona State has opened the season with a couple wins doing what they do best, and that is running the ball.

For the second year in a row Arizona State stays undefeated in OOC play by defeating a hapless Colorado team in lackluster fashion. Rudy Carpenter threw a pick-6 in the opening series and the defensive secondary created a pile of those oh shit moments but were underexposed by a Colorado receiving corps that couldn't catch crabs from a 10-peso Tucson hooker.** Freshman QB Cody Hawkins looked stunning for a kid making his second career start, but perfect passes in stride were literally going through his WR's hands. The score could have easily been 28-0 before the ASU offense came to life in the second quarter.

Michael Wines has a lot to feel good about this week over at the Oregon blog and he has loaded up with a lot of video of the Michigan game.

A week after being upset by Appalachian State, the Wolverines were handed their most-lopsided loss in 39 years as Dennis Dixon and the Ducks cruised 39-7 on Saturday. Dixon accounted for 368 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.

The Arizona blog celebrates the victory over Northern Arizona Community College.

University of Arizona’s cornerback Antoine Cason’s biggest obstacle this year might be boredom. The senior Playboy All-American is not tested often, and when he is they are short pass routes with little chance for success. NAU receiver Alex Watson caught 10 balls, part of the time in his direction, but for only 47 total yards.

The Oregon State Blog is taking the week off with little or no mention of the butt kicking the Beavers received last Thursday on national TV. There is a nice blip about September 11th which was as big a disaster as the Beavers third quarter.

On this sixth anniversary of September 11th, we take a moment to honor the victims and the heroes of that fateful day.

Stanford took last week off because as Nathan Ware says "Football just isn't that important". Jon Wilner on the other hand is still working and was very impressed by the Pac Ten last weekend. I mean you have to take a guy seriously who thinks Mike Belotti is a better coach than Don James.

My familiarity with Pac-10 football goes back to the late 80s, and I can’t remember a better weekend for the conference. (And by “better weekend,” I mean “better Saturday,” which allows me to exclude Oregon State’s dreadful performance at Cincinnati. But you know what? That narrow definition of “weekend” helps make my case, so to heck with reality!) The Pac-10 went 7-0 Saturday, the first time I can remember the league going undefeated in an early-season, inter-conference “weekend.”

The Cal Blog quotes Wilner again as he touts DeSean Jackson for the Heisman. One thing though, probably not a lot of defensive awards coming this off season for the Bears.

Welcome to a new weekly Hotline feature examining the Heisman chances of Cal receiver/returner DeSean Jackson. I’ll have something posted each Sunday/Monday as long as Jackson remains a viable candidate. And two weeks into the season — preposterously early, I know, but that’s what blogs are all about — Jackson is more than a viable candidate: He’s one of the frontrunners.

Brinkhater is still not Brinklover at the WSU blog, I mean what will it take to please this guy?

Like I've said consistently in this short season, for us to taste the fruits of mediocrity, Alex Brink is not only going to have to be GREAT against San Diego State, he is going to HAVE TO put up the same type of numbers against Belotti's Babes, the Beavs, Conquest, and so forth... And, as the Cougar nation knows, Alex has seldom played poorly against weak competition, its how he plays against the upper division teams that matters.

Hawaii officially doesn't scare me any more after sneaking by LA. Tech in overtime.

Adding fuel to what is becoming a heated rivalry, Hawai'i football players said slotback Davone Bess was the target of curse-peppered remarks made by Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley during the Warriors' 45-44 overtime victory Saturday night.

Great Husky Passes

The Husky Nation bows it's head in silence for a moment today to mark the passing of All American, and Rose Bowl running back Jimmie Cain. Cain played for legendary Husky coach Jimmy Phelan in the 1930's.

Cain was a three-year starter for the Huskies from 1934-36, versatile enough to handle all four backfield positions, which he did. He rushed for 856 yards on 230 carries in his college career and led the team in scoring with six touchdowns as a senior. He never lost to USC in three meetings, providing the only UW points on a long run in a 6-2 victory as a junior.
His biggest thrill as a player was facing Pittsburgh in front of a record crowd of 87,196 in the 1937 Rose Bowl, a game the Huskies lost 21-0.

Puppy Chow

The Buckeyes are 7-3 against the UW. All 10 games have been during the regular season. The series began in 1957. The last time they played was the season opener in 2003. Ohio State was the defending national champion and beat the Huskies 28-9. In 1994, unranked Washington shocked No. 16 Ohio State 25-16 when Napoleon Kaufman had 278 all-purpose yards to break Hugh McElhenny's school record.

Ohio State has a healthy respect for Washington that is illustrated in this article from the Columbus Dispatch.

Throughout the summer, while fans and even some experts said Ohio State should traipse to an 8-0 record before its season started, offensive tackle Kirk Barton was steadfast in his dissent.
He kept saying that the trip to Washington on Sept. 15 was going to be a major challenge.

Another Ohio paper is worried about the matchup and doesn't think the Buckeyes are worthy of their lofty early season ranking.

Through two weeks, Ohio State’s No. 10 ranking is based on tradition, not merit. The only team to look worse, considering the competition, is Michigan, so at least they have that going for them. At least they’re not Lloyd Carr.

Speaking of Lloyd Carr, Freshman Ryan Mallett will start at quarterback for Michigan on Saturday against Notre Dame in a matchup of storied programs with 0-2 records this season — and he could have the job a few weeks longer. Injured Wolverines quarterback Chad Henne will not play against Notre Dame. Coach Lloyd Carr did not provide a timetable for Henne's return, listing him Monday as week to week. The senior was hurt in Saturday's 39-7 loss to Oregon.

Taking a Look at Ohio State

Whenever you think of the greatest programs in the history of college football Ohio State always comes to mind, in fact they were undefeated, and playing for the National Title against Florida only last January.

Ohio State is one of the most storied programs in the history of college football. When you think of Ohio State you think of Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Archie Griffin, Hopalong Cassidy, Eddie George, and Keith Beyers just to name a few. You can also think of a team that has won thirty-one Big Ten Championships over the years. No doubt about it, anytime you play Ohio State you are playing a prestigious program.

Ohio State brings another strong squad into Husky Stadium in 2007. This is the first major test for the Buckeyes since the title game against Florida. That game was a disaster for the Ohio State faithful, and they really haven't recovered even though they opened this season up with wins against Youngstown State, and Akron.

The Florida game showed how vulnerable the traditionally stout tOSU defense is against a mobile QB. Tim Tebow just ate the Buckeyes up, and now they face another multi dimensional QB in Jake Locker. I am not trying to compare UW, and Florida because we aren't there yet, but UW will present some of the same type of challenges that Florida did. According to Tim Lappano, UW hasn't come close to showing it's entire offensive package during the first two games, and you have to think they have been saving it for the next three games, tOSU, UCLA, and USC. UW is currently 2-0, and any win over the next three weeks is going to be an upset that will go a long way at the end of the year when it come to being picked to participate in a bowl game.

2007 is a rebuilding year for the Buckeyes. Starting QB Troy Smith and other prominent playmakers are gone. Head coach Jim Tressel still has a fine team, but many players lack experience.

With the exit of Troy Smith look for a more disciplined offense. The starting QB will be junior Todd Boeckman. He is big and has a strong arm. Sophomore RB Chris Wells (104 CAR, 576 YDs, 5.5 AVG, 7 TDs) has power and speed but has to hold onto the ball. The Buckeyes can use consistency from him. At receiver, junior Brian Robiskie (29 REC, 383 YDs, 13.2 AVG, 5 TDs) and sophomore Brian Hartline (17 REC, 256 YDs, 15.1 AVG, 2 TD) will provide sure-hands and smarts. The wildcard is receiver Ray Small—a speedy sophomore capable of turning up just about anywhere.

The defense features MLB James Laurinaitis (115 tackles, 53 solo), who won the Bronco Nagurski Trophy in 2006. The line-backing unit is stellar, which should give the Huskies some problems after facing less than stellar LB corps the last two weeks. Locker will be a lot more challenged once he turns the corner by this group.

The frontline is almost all new, with junior DE Vernon Gholston being the only returning starter. Gholston is a massive and often unstoppable presence. Junior corner Malcolm Jenkins, who has speed, experience and smarts, will be the stabilizing force in the secondary. Although the rest of the front and secondary lack experience, there's plenty of talent and potential. In 2006 the "D" held opponents to 12.8 PPG, placing 5th in the nation. In last weeks game against Akron they virtually stopped the Zip's offense all day, and held them to only two points which came on a safety.

Does this club have a chance at the Big Ten title again? I think they can compete, but would have to rate Wisconsin, Penn State, and even Iowa ahead of them at this point. It all depends on how Tressel brings them along over the season. He is one of the best coaches in the country, and he has plenty of young talent to work with.

Washington is a big challenge for the Buckeyes because they are going to be playing in the hostile environment of Husky Stadium, facing a mobile QB, and will be breaking in a young offense against what is proving to be one of the better defensive units on the West Coast. UW has also been tested by better competition in the two games leading up to this one. Practicing for, and playing against a team like Boise State gives UW a little edge going into this one. Ohio State is actually much easier to prepare for.

To me this game comes down to who ends up controlling the line of scrimmage. This one is going to be decided in the trenches, and the words smash mouth are going to be used by the announcers all day long.

Is UW ready to take the step up, and beat Ohio State? I think they can win the game even though the oddsmakers have made the Buckeyes a small favorite going in. I think our defense can play with these guys. Our offense needs to step it up a notch. There aren't going to be any green LB's to exploit in this game. UW is going to be going against one of the better defenses they will see all year. For UW to win they are going to need to show more on offense. They need to get the TE involved, we need to see FB's catching the ball over the middle, we need to see a power running game with no more dancing, and finally we can't put this one completely on the shoulders of Jake Locker, he needs the rest of the skill players to step up and hold onto the ball.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Ohio State

The university was founded in 1870 as a land-grant university. and is currently the largest university in the United States. Ohio State began accepting graduate students in the 1880's, and, in 1891, the school saw the founding of its law school. It would later acquire colleges of medicine, dentistry, commerce and journalism in subsequent years. Although development had been hindered in the 1870's by hostility from the state's agricultural interests and competition for resources from Miami University and Ohio University, both issues were eventually resolved. In 1906, Ohio State's status as the state's flagship campus was written into law by the Ohio legislature through the Eagleson Bill. In 1916, Ohio State was elected into membership in the Association of American Universities.

Ohio State's main urban campus is located in Columbus. Its 1,755 acres (7 km²) are approximately 2.5 miles north of the city's downtown. Columbus is the capital and the largest city in the state of Ohio. Named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. In 2006 Columbus was ranked as the United States 15th largest city, with 733,203 residents, and is the country's 32nd largest metropolitan area.

Ohio State's intercollegiate sports teams are called the "Buckeyes" (after the state tree, the Buckeye), and participate in the NCAA's Division I in all sports (Division I-A in football) and the Big Ten Conference in most sports. The school colors are Scarlet and Gray. The teams' nickname is "Buckeyes" and "Brutus" the Buckeye is their mascot. Ohio State is one of only three universities (the University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley being the others) to have won national championships in baseball, men's basketball, and football.

Outstanding sports figures that were student athletes at Ohio State include 1936 Olympics gold medalist Jesse Owens "the Buckeye Bullet" (track and field), John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas, Bobby Knight, and Larry Siegfried (basketball), Katie Smith and the first 3-time player of the year in Big Ten Basketball history Jessica Davenport (women's basketball), Frank Howard (basketball and baseball), Jack Nicklaus (golf); and Chic Harley (three-time All-American football running back). Ohio State football players have combined for seven Heisman Awards including the only two-time winner Archie Griffin in 1974 and 1975, Eddie George in 1995, and most recently Troy Smith in 2006. Hall of Fame coaches at Ohio State have included Paul Brown and Woody Hayes in football, Fred Taylor in basketball, Larry Snyder in track and field, and Mike Peppe in swimming and diving.

In their 116-year-history, the Buckeyes have been consensus Division IA National Champions four times (1942, 1954, 1968, and 2002), and officially recognize titles in three other years (1957, 1961, and 1970).

Jim Tressel, who is a cousin of Don James wife, Carol, has been the Buckeyes head coach since 2001, and won his first national IA title in 2002. Former Husky assistant Jim Heacock is a longtime OSU assistant coach, and current UW assistant Randy Hart played and coached at his alma mater Ohio State.

Puppy Chow

ESPN will be broadcasting the game this Saturday rather than ABC. Ex Husky Ed Cunningham is going to be up in the booth as one of the announcers calling the game. ESPN's schedule for Saturday, Sept. 15, will include home games from the Pac-10 (No. 10 Ohio State at Washington at 3:30 p.m.) and Big 12 (Florida State at Colorado at 10 p.m.), marking the first time ESPN has televised a home game from the Big 12 and the first from the Pac-10 since 1994. Any remaining UW games not already picked up for TV will be selected either six or 12 days prior.

FB Luke Kravitz is back in the depth this week and should see action against the Buckeyes. Kravitz suffered a hand injury against Syracuse, and sat out against Boise State.

Jake Locker, QB Washington. The honeymoon for Boise State is officially over thanks to the the Huskies. Locker, a redshirt freshman, passed for a TD and ran for another as Washington beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 2003. Enjoy it while it lasts, Jake -- your next opponent is Ohio State.

Washington's Roy Lewis was named the Pac-10's Defensive Player of the Week. Lewis had 11 tackles against Boise State along with an interception and three pass breakups.

Kickoff has been set for the game at UCLA at Sept. 22 and it's another night game. The game will begin at 7:15 p.m. and will be televised on FSN. As the huskies keep winning the TV dates keep coming.

Byron Davenport is listed as a second-team corner, so apparently his hamstring injury suffered against Boise State isn't all that bad. He actually injured the other one, not the one that was previously injured.

Look for RB's Brandon Yakaboski, and Willie Griffin to redshirt this year. The Huskies seem to be happy with Rankin, Hasty, Johnson, and Shaw.

Seven true frosh have played do far this year. Johnson, Shaw, McDowell, Williams, Sylvester, Aiyewa, and Foster.

The Weekly Poll Question

Last week I asked:

Will Washington Beat Boise State?

Yes 63% (39 votes)

Yes, and by more than two touchdowns 16% (10 votes)

No 21% (13 votes)

Last weeks question of course has been already answered on the field. Washington indeed won the game by two touchdowns over the three point favorite Boise State. I was however surprised that that the scoring was so low. I guess when both teams shut each other out in the second half that happens.

This week I ask:

Will Washington beat Ohio State?

This is a simple yes, and no question, and I think this game is going to be quite a bit closer. Ohio State may be rebuilding, but they have great athletes at every position. UW is going up against a team that probably has more talent overall than they do. Ohio State may have more overall talent and depth, but is it in the right places? Does that talent have enough experience to beat UW on the road after a couple of games against lees than stellar competition?

The Monday Morning Wash

This was a great win, the first Washington win over a ranked team in what seemed forever, and the end of the nations longest winning streak as "Cinderella" lost her slipper on the shores of Montlake.

As Tim Lappano said after the game, "The Huskies of the past two years would have found a way to lose this game." What we saw on Saturday was the start of the return of the Huskies of old, and it felt pretty good to see that again after a very long Winter.

Washington found a way to win on Saturday when their offense put up 24 points on the Broncos in the first half, but stalled in the second half. The much maligned UW defense stepped up, held the Broncos to only 10 points, and shut them out in the second half of the game. That is what Husky football is all about!

Boise State has been averaging 41.7 points per game since 1999, and the UW held this offensive juggernaut to only ten points. Washington forced four turnovers, including two in the fourth quarter in holding the Broncos to their lowest point total in the past 18 games. The key to the game as I said in the preview was stopping the Boise running game, and the Huskies held the Broncos Heisman candidate Ian Johnson to only 81 net yards.

The win didn't move UW into the top twenty five, but they did pick up enough votes to be ranked 29th in both polls.

UW faces Ohio State next week, and once again it will be a significant jump in competition level. tOSU hasn't impressed me this year, but their defense can really thump it as usual. Offensively these guys have work to do, they only led Akron 3-2 at halftime....not impressive. I honestly think the Huskies have a good chance to be 3-0 on Saturday night.

Pac Ten Round Up

Oregon State opened the week getting crushed by Cincinnati on ESPN. the one dimensional Beavers go in trouble when they fell behind because of sloppy ball handling. Sean Canfield is a liability, and it will show in every game the opponent challenges him to beat them.

Oregon surprised us all by just crushing Michigan on the road. Michigan isn't very good, and I wouldn't get too excited about the Ducks because Michigan did lose to Appalachian State last weekend. Dennis Dixon accounted for 368 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, helping the Ducks build a 25-point lead at halftime and cruise to an easy victory.

Arizona broke into the win column with a nice win over Northern Arizona. Willie Tuitama threw a career-high five touchdown passes, one shy of the school record, and Antoine Cason went 70 yards for a score on the second punt return of his career to lead Arizona to a 45-24 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday night.

California had a tougher time than expected against Colorado State. DeSean Jackson is spectacular from scrimmage and on special teams. If only he could play defensive back, California might not have to worry so much. The junior wide receiver scored on a 73-yard reverse and 10th-ranked Cal held off scrappy Colorado State 34-28 on Saturday.

Alex Brink completed a school-record 38 passes for 469 yards and five touchdowns, leading Washington State to a 45-17 rout of San Diego State on Saturday. Brink was 38-for-47, bettering the 37 completed passes Drew Bledsoe had against Montana in 1992. Brink's 469 yards is the third-highest total in school history, trailing only his own 531 yards against Oregon State in 2005 and Bledsoe's 476 yards against Utah in the 1992 Copper Bowl.

Arizona State had another impressive victory on Saturday. Rudy Carpenter threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns to help Arizona State rally from a two-touchdown deficit to defeat Colorado 33-14 on Saturday night. Colorado jumped ahead 14-0 in the first quarter, but the sloppy Sun Devils overcame five personal fouls, an interception and two fumbles to take a 19-14 halftime lead. Sounds like Erickson has put his imprint on this team early. he must be the career coaching leader in personal fouls.

Chris Markey ran for a late touchdown, Trey Brown returned an interception 56 yards for a score and the No. 13 UCLA defense held off a second-half BYU rally Saturday night for a 27-17 victory. Down 20-3, BYU opened the second half with a pair of touchdown drives, but the UCLA defense forced a fumble on the ensuing possession and held the Cougars to three-and-out on the next. UCLA (2-0) used a slow, 45-yard drive in the final three minutes that included a timely pass interference penalty on BYU and a Ben Olson completion on third-and-7. Markey's 3-yard touchdown run with 1:12 remaining sealed the win.

National Round Up

Did any of you see Middle Tennessee and Louisville? Talk about a track meet! "We made the big plays when we needed to make them," said Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe. "It's not exactly the way we wanted to play in every phase, but the bottom line is winning."

LSU didn't need any small-school sacrificial lambs on its early season schedule to post a couple of gaudy blowouts. The tenacious Tigers made Virginia Tech look like a pushover instead of the ninth-ranked team in the nation. Keiland Williams ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Matt Flynn led LSU to scores on four of its first five possessions as the Tigers cruised to a 48-7 victory over the uncharacteristically hapless Hokies on Saturday night.

TCU was selling "Beat Texas" T-shirts before the season started. If the No. 19 Horned Frogs were going to be taken seriously as one of the top teams in the country, it would start with a win over the Longhorns. Surely there's a car wash or good charity out there looking for some rags no one wants anymore. Colt McCoy passed for a touchdown, set up another with a long run, and a dominant performance by its defense carried No. 7 Texas to a 34-13 win Saturday night, turning TCU's hopes for an upset into a second-half disaster.

Wisconsin needed some good fortune to get out of Sin City with a win. Tyler Donovan scored on a 29-yard boot leg with 1:53 to play and the fifth-ranked Badgers held on for a 20-13 victory over UNLV Saturday night.

The Buckeyes' defense forced befuddled Akron to punt 14 times, including after 12 consecutive three-and-out series, and beat the Zips 20-2. The Buckeyes led Akron 3-2 at the half.

Sam Keller nearly gave away the game during his first road start at Nebraska. Zack Bowman jumped up to take it back for the Cornhuskers. Three plays after Keller threw an interception deep in Nebraska territory, Bowman picked off a Wake Forest pass in the end zone and the 16th-ranked Cornhuskers held on to win 20-17 on Saturday.

No. 14 Penn State's defense bottled up Jimmy Clausen, the Irish freshman quarterback making his first start, Derrick Williams returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown and Austin Scott ran for two second-half scores in a 31-10 win at raucous Beaver Stadium.

Jesse Hester Jr. caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Matt Grothe to lift the Bulls to a 26-23 overtime win over No. 17 Auburn Saturday night and give USF a victory over a ranked team each of the last three seasons.

Louisiana Tech didn't want to give Colt Brennan another chance, so the Bulldogs went for the winning 2-point conversion in overtime. However, No. 20 Hawaii was up to the task. The Warriors knocked down the pass attempt to preserve a 45-44 victory on Saturday night.

Steve Spurrier tried to downplay his latest win over Georgia. Of course, he couldn't resist one little dig at the Bulldogs. Spurrier, who beat the Bulldogs regularly while at Florida, guided South Carolina to a 16-12 upset of No. 11 Georgia that may indicate the Gamecocks are finally ready to contend for their first Southeastern Conference title.

Pac Ten Power Ratings

1. Southern California...The Trojans had the week off, and play Nebraska next week. Since they have only played Idaho we don't really any idea off paper how good they are. I haven't been impressed with Nebraska since Callahan took over. (Holding)

2. California...The Golden Bears had a letdown against Colorado State but prevailed by 6 points. No question about the offense, but the defense leaves a lot to be desired. (Holding)

3. Arizona State...Win number two of the Erickson era, and plenty of personal fouls which unfortunately seems to be an Erickson trademark. (Rising)

4. UCLA...BYU was a tough opponent and UCLA did pretty well holding off a late rally. I still have doubts about Dorrell as a head man. (Holding)

5. Washington...UW has a big one next week against Ohio State, and if they win that one they will be back in the top 25. The win against Boise State sends a very positive message about the return of Husky football. (Rising)

6. Oregon...Impressive win over Michigan, but Michigan is obviously not very good after dropping two in a row. Dennis Dixon had a great game, but the Ducks don't have me convinced...yet. (Rising)

7. Oregon State...The Beavers were favored on the road, but the roof caved in during the 3rd quarter exposing the one dimensional OSU offense. Riley has a lot of work to do with these guys, but last season started the same way and they ended up beating USC. (Falling)

8. Washington State...Alex Brink had one of his best games as a Cougar, and WSU is in the mix. the cougars are never as bad as you think. this offense can move the ball, but can the defense stop Pac Ten opponents? (Rising)

9. Arizona...Stoops breaks into the win column over Northern Arizona, but the Pac Ten isn't the Big Sky. (Falling)

10. Stanford...The Card play for all the marbles in Silicon Valley next week against SJSU. this game will be a decent measuring stick on how the rebuilding is going. If they don't win, they might not win a game this year. (Holding)

Meandering From Another Viewpoint

I read "Meanderings" over at Dawgman last week, in fact I read it about five times. I respect the author, and find the post's to be entertaining reading each week that it comes out. Last weeks version bothered me, to me it seemed just so old guard, and negative.

To me it seems that some just won't be happy till we are able to clone Don James, and bring him back as a 48 year old head coach. I am a huge Don James fan, but I have never been the type of person who lives in the past. As glorious as that era was, it simply is now in the distant past.

When I go to a football game it is for the express purpose of watching the game, and rooting for my team to win. To me that is what it is all about. I have met every man who has coached the Huskies in my lifetime, that goes back nearly fifty years, but never once did I feel the urge to be the coaches buddy. For some it isn't enough to watch the team win, they also have the need to have their ego's stroked by being connected. Sometimes that connection comes from simply giving money, volunteering, or just attending social events involving the team. Sometimes it comes from having influence, and a sense of power.

All coaches, and programs handle it differently. At Oregon for example the program is now run by the boosters. A booster with no athletic administration experience is now AD, and Phil Knight of Nike is basically the CEO of the program through the huge contributions he makes to the Universities athletic programs, and the close ties he has to the new AD. Make no mistake, Mr Knight now wields enough power to make all the decisions regarding Oregon athletics.

I just happen to think Oregon is headed down the wrong road by doing it that way. When the contributors tell the University what to do, rather than suggest what to do, you begin to realize that you have lost the focus of what intercollegiate athletics are all about.

Washington has chose a different road. UW has a strong President that is in favor of a strong athletic program. We have an athletic director with considerable experience who is a meticulous administrator. We have sports programs that are competing for, and actually winning national championships. Our basketball program, once a laughingstock is now one of the strongest in the country under the leadership of Lorenzo Romar.

The missing piece has been football, if there is one thing Washington athletics has identified itself with for over one hundred years has been a strong football program. Ty Willingham in year three is now turning the corner of achieving that goal by fielding a strong, and measurably improved program built more impressively in an ethical manner. Willingham in his tenure hasn't panedered to special interest, the press, or even to boosters, but what he has done is the job he was hired to do, and that is to rebuild the football program into something we can all be proud of.

There is an old guard out there, as illustrated in "Meanderings", just like in the days of Don James third year who are not fans of a new administration, and Willingham in particular. Just like James did in the late 1970's he is going to win them over and gain newer, younger, and more visionary support as he begins to win regular season games and head to post season bowl games.

Don James recruited a young man by the name of Joe Steele, and while Joe is probably not the greatest player he coached in his tenure, he was close, and most importantly he was the most important recruit of the Don James era. It was the recruitment of Steele that started keeping the top local players home.

Jake Locker is Ty Willingham's Joe Steele, and unlike Joe, Jake may become the best football player to ever walk the fields of Montlake.

I find it funny after dominating an opponent for the first time since 2003 that the old guard still comes up with reasons not to like Ty Willingham. I guess they miss the connection they had when Lude, and James were in charge. They miss the familiarity of a Jim Lambright even though they abandoned him by not standing up to Barbara Hedges. They even miss the exuberance, and openness of a Rick Neuheisel who never failed to be entertaining, or a Keith Gilbertson who had all the right bloodlines, but finished driving the program into the ground in only two terrible seasons.

What Washington has now is an old fashioned football coach who doesn't care about anything but being a football coach, winning games, and retiring at the end of his career at Washington. He isn't an entertainer, even though if you have ever met him, or heard him speak out of range of the media, you just might find him to be extremely charming.

The legacy of Washington football is all about winning, and most importantly it is about winning with class. Ty Willingham is a man who knows how to win with class, and at the start of year three we are seeing it all start to come together. While we are still a couple of recruiting classes away from full recovery, however a stable foundation for the future has been built. People like to be associated with winning, and class. In my opinion Washington is rebuilding in the right way, and have the right men in place to do the job. As for the donations, and support, they will come as they always have, and that is with the wins, and the pride the program produces.

Washington vs Boise State Game Blog

It is about four hours from game time as I write this and all I have to say is thank god for Fall Saturdays. This is a big one, no doubt about it, and Boise State is a good opponent, but how good won't be answered till we strap on the helmets later today.

This isn't my usual Saturday, I am throwing a surprise birthday party to celebrated my wife's 4oth today. I have invited over sixty people who will start descending on the house approximately three hours after kickoff. It should be a pretty good time, and I wish you all could be here, but if you can't, I hope you made it to Montlake today.

Because of the party I won't be scripting the game in the blog today, I have too much to do to be able to do that, but I will be making comments after each quarter when I can, so pop in to see whats going on. I will also be in the chat room at Dawgman a bit, but for the most part will be running around getting this place ready in view of the television.

So go Dawg's, beat Boise, Mash Some Potato's, and I will check back in after the first quarter.

Brief summary

I didn't have time to blog during the game, but I did watch or listen to the game, and it looks to me like a return to old husky football. I thought Boise played as well as they could play but UW was the better team...two TD's better, and you gotta like that defense. Nice job Dawgs!....(see no apostrohe...lol)

Washington / Boise State Matchups

Here is a rundown on how Washington, and Boise State matchup.

Quarterback - Washington - Jake Locker showed me enough in the first game against Syracuse that he is definitely in the upper division as far as QB's go in the Pac Ten. He showed great touch once he settled down, and the ball just exploded out of his hands. Tharp is a good QB with more experience, but he can't run, or throw like Locker. Lockers feet, and size set him apart from just about every QB in the country.

Running back - Even - Ian Johnson comes in well hyped as a Heisman contender with adequate depth behind him. Louis Rankin is coming off his best game as a Husky and has been impressive all spring, and during Fall camp. The guy that does the best is going to be running behind what will prove to be the best offensive line. Both teams also have pretty good FB's. Homer will only keep getting better as a blocking, and short yardage back.

Wide Receiver - Washington - Washington veteran crew held onto the ball really well last Friday, and ran really well after the catch. We haven't see the deep game yet, but expect to see more of it against BSU. Boise lost their three top receivers to graduation and Jeremy Childs looks to be their go to guy this year. Vinny Perretta is a former walk-on who did a little of everything on offense last year with 17 catches, 55 rushes. Evan Surratt arrived last year as a safety, but so good as a WR on the scout team late last year the coaches decided to make him a wide receiver permanently. Tanyon Bissell will be busy this year as a slot receiver, occasional trick-play quarterback, keep an eye on him.

Tight End - Boise State - We didn't see much of the Tight End in Washington's offense last week as only Rob Lewis caught a ball during the game. Look for UW to try to get the TE's more involved over the middle this week. Boise State counters with Chris O'Neill who had an outstanding performance in fall camp and emerged as the tight end most likely to stretch the field in the passing game. The Broncos are loaded at tight end this year. In fact, they will list two tight ends as starters, senior Ryan Putnam and sophomore Richie Brockel, although one will technically be called a fullback.

Offensive Line - Even - The Huskies did a very nice job protecting Locker and opening up holes that led to 300 yards in rushing lat week. It is still a work in progress, and BSU's line is very good, but UW has the size that just wears a smaller D Line down. What we have going on here is size Vs quickness. Boise State counters with LT Ryan Clady (6'6, 315, sr) who was named a Playboy All-American during the off season. LG Tad Miller (6-4, 297, sr), C Jeff Cavender (6-2, 285, sr): Has started 38 consecutive games — 12 at right tackle, 13 at center and 13 at right guard. He played center in 2005. RG Andrew Woodruff (6-3, 336, jr): Moved from right guard to right tackle in 2006. RT Dan Gore (6-5, 302, sr) rounds out the startin lineup.

Defensive Line - Washington - UW had little help from the LB's and DB's picking up seven sacks. BSU doesn't have anyone that can block Rayford, and Gunheim all night. The middle of the line is solid and deep. Syracuse was unable to run against UW. The Broncos lost some key players on the defensive line, but return a pair of starters at defensive end in Nick Schlekeway(6-4, 262) and Mike T. Williams (6-4, 243).

Linebacker - Washington - The Huskies have good speed, and size, Boise's linebackers on the other hand are on the small size and will have problems taking on Locker, and Rankin when they reach their part of the field. The Huskies covered well last week against the Syracuse passing game which was good to see from this young group. Boise is going to have trouble with Washington's bigger athletes and improved team speed.

Defensive Back - Boise State - Boise has more depth and experience back here, and there isn't a lot of fall of from last year at this position for the Bronco's. UW played very well last week by keeping everything in front of them. The two freshman did very well in their debuts and will keep improving each week. Depth gets better for Washington as Byron Davenport returns to the fold at CB. CB Gerald Alexander has great size, and leaping ability for a CB, and he will be testing UW WR's all day Saturday. The smaller Rashaun Scott should line up at the other side. Free Safety Cam Hall was probably their MVP on defense last year, and he returns this year for another stellar campaign. Austin Smith, and Marty Tadman will split time as the undersized rovers. UW will try to create a mismatch with Marcel Reese against this position. On paper you might give the edge to Boise on past accomplishments, but I think it is pretty close.

Special Teams - Even - Both teams did well last week with new kickers, and punters. Ballman did an exceptional job for UW. Perkins wasn't tested doing field goals, but was perfect kicking PATs. The Huskies have some work to do on coverage teams, and they didn't exactly spring any big returns either even though Johnson looked strong returning kickoffs.

Weekly Predictions

Last week I was 15-1 picking the winners. I screwed up by picking Notre Dame over Georgia Tech at home. I think I was trying to honestly give SLBOB a little slack.

I also was surprised by how ASU handled San Jose so easily, so if I was betting the spread on that one I would have lost. Picking BYU, over Arizona, and Clemson over Florida State turned out to be good calls.

Luckily I didn't have a pick last week on the Michigan vs Appalachian State game, nobody saw that one coming. Did you see the Appalachian State mascot/logo? It looks like either the Unibomber, or a character out of the movie "Deliverance".

Pac Ten Games

A strong schedule in the Pac Ten this week with USC taking the week off to heal after Idaho. To be fair the Trojans were holding the offense back because Nebraska is up next week.

Oregon State at Cincinnati

This weeks Thursday night game features OSU traveling to the Midwest to take on an improving C-USA Bearcat squad. OSU had a strong game against Utah, but QB Canfield didn't impress anyone in his first outting as starter. Bernard and OSU line should handle them with a little more smashmouth. The oddsmakers have the Beavers by 4.

(A quick note on this one, Cincinnatti is just blowing out Oregon State tonight 27-3 in the third quarter.)


Boise State at Washington

The Bronco's are favored, but Washington is going to be able these upstarts at home by a couple of touchdowns. Yes, I think Washington is for real. I pick Washington by 14. The men who make the odds favor Boise State by 3.

California at Colorado State

The Bear offense isn't going to have any trouble in Fort Collins this weekend, and we will also see a better defensive game from these guys against the lesser opponent. Keep an eye on the Cal defense, if they give up 20 or more points again it could spell trouble later in the season. the oddsmakers like the Bears by 14 1/2.

Northern Arizona at Arizona

Mike Stoops should even the record this week against the Big Sky opponent. This may be only one of the games they win this year based on last weeks performance, but BYU is a pretty good team. No line, and that is how Mike likes it.

Oregon at Michigan

Last weeks loss to Appalachian State had to be just gruesome for the formerly ranked #5 Wolverine's. Oregon is one helluva a lot better than A-State, but then again, so is Michigan which should be on fire when the Ducks hit the field. I am going with Michigan by ten. the oddsmakers are going with Michigan by 8.

BYU at UCLA

The Cougars had no problem with Arizona last week, but this week they step it up a notch taking on a very talented UCLA team. UCLA didn't look impressive to me against Stanford for three quarters as the Cards didn't fold till the fourth quarter. This one is going to be close, and I take UCLA by three since they are at home. The oddsmakers have the Bruins at 7 1/2.

San Diego State at Washington State

The other Cougars stuck with a much more talented Wisconsin team till the fourth quarter in Madison. The Coug's will even their record at home against the Aztecs. WSU showed that they can score some points against a tough defense, but they also showed they can give up points in bunches. The oddsmakers like the Cougars by 14.

Colorado at Arizona State

ASU came out firing on all cylinders against a good SJSU team last weekend. That is bad news for the Pac Ten because it means that Dennis Erickson is ahead of schedule. The Devils will have little trouble with the rebuilding Buff's who edged CSU last week in Denver. ASU by 14. The oodsmakers take ASU by 15.

National Games

We get some interesting early games this week of national importance, but I doin't see any Division 1-AA upsets on the horizon.

Virginia Tech at LSU

V-Tech has emotion on it's side going into this one, and they are going to need it because LSU is the second best team in the country. All of us would like to see Miles lose, but I think LSU wins by three in a close one. This just happens to be the game of the week. the oddsmakers like LSU quite a bit and are going with 13.

TCU at Texas

TCU is a very good football team, and highly ranked Texas almost had an A-State disaster of it's own last week against Arkansas State. I am picking TCU by a TD in this one. I don't see the Longhorns holding that high powered offense down enough to win. This is my upset special. The oddsmakers like Texas by 9 1/2.

Miami at Oklahoma

This is a big game for Miami as they continue to rebuild. I don't think they have enough to stay with Oklahoma, but it should be interesting. Sooners by ten, and I wish they could both lose. The oddsmakers have the Sooners by 11.

Georgia at South Carolina

Georgia is favored, but the USC is overdue under the old ball coach to upset somebody at home, and I think this is the week he makes some noise. SC by 3. The oddsmakers like Georgia at 5 1/2.

Notre Dame at Penn State

The Irish looked terrible last week with most of Ty's players gone. They aren't going to look any better this week against an even better Penn State team. PSU by 17. What you are looking for from Notre Dame is for them to lose enough early games to get knocked out of BCS

consideration. ND has talent, and will do better in the second half of the season. The oddsmakers are also saying PSU by 17.

Nebraska at Wake Forest

Wake played tough in its loss to Boston College last week, and I think they have enough waggles to beat an over rated Nebraska team at home. Nebraska just might be looking ahead to USC. WFU by three. The oddsmakers have Nebraska by 9.

North Carolina State at Boston College

BC outlasted Wake Forest last week and they even have another memeber of the Flutie family in the lineup again. I am going with BC in this one by two TD's. Once again it is tough for me to pick BC to lose since my wife is an alumni and will kill me if I do. How about that for science. The oddsmakers also like the Eagles by 14.

Washington vs Boise State Preview

Washington takes on Boise State, Saturday, 12:30 pm at Husky Stadium in a non conference game broadcast by Fox Northwest. It is the first time that the two programs have ever met, and Boise State comes into the game with nations longest win streak at 14.

While Boise State is not favored to win the WAC, Hawaii, an opponent Washington plays to end the season is, they are still rated among the top twenty five teams in the country. The odds makers have Boise as a three point favorite as of Wednesday after the initial line was released at four.

The euphoria surrounding Boise State comes from their highly entertaining win in the Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma to wrap up the 2006 season. The win left the Bronco's as the nations lone undefeated team, and gave them at least a legit claim of being national champions. Despite that win, Boise has only won four games against BCS opponents since 1996, two coming last year against Oregon State, and Oklahoma.

Washington is a huge game for Boise State. A win over a Pac Ten school on the road would only add to the aura surrounding "America's Latest Cinderella". A win over Washington would also help them further establish a more vigorous recruiting base in the fertile Pacific Northwest.

Boise State of course wants to move up, and while the new WAC has proven to be a great conference, the next step up would be to the more prestigous Mountain West Conference. Beating teams like Washington is a great way to get that invitation.

Washington of course is not the program it once was. The Huskies have been in steady decline since the mid 90's, and recently bottomed out over the past three years only posting eight wins, with five coming last season. UW does however have a lot of momentum going into this season after throttling Syracuse last week on the road to open the season in impressive fashion.

For Washington this game is a must win in a schedule that most pundits call the most difficult in the country in 2007. No knock on Boise State, but it only increases in difficulty with consecutive games against Ohio State, UCLA, and USC, who are all currently rated much higher than Boise State in the national rankings. The Pac Ten may be the nations toughest conference this season, so a win here will be very helpful if UW wants to go bowling over the holidays.

What we have in this game are two teams who are struggling for basically the same thing, and that is recognition. For Washington that recognition is a sign that they are returning to the power status they have held for decades. For Boise State it is the recognition that they belong with the big boys of the Pac Ten. It is a pivotal game for both schools, and it should prove to be a great contest on Saturday.

When Boise State has the ball

Boise State didn't become the darlings of the college football by being boring. The Bronco's are going to pull out all the stops against UW because if they beat Washington, and Hawaii they are a good bet to go to another BCS bowl, and move up to the next level as far as national recognition goes. Tharp is a solid QB who had a nice debut against Weber State last week. He has a solid arm, and while a bit of a falloff from Zambrasky in talent, he has the ability to keep his team moving.

Ian Johnson is a RB who will play in the NFL. UW is going to have it's hands full stopping him. Syracuse didn't have a rushing game last week, Boise State does, and the UW defensive line will be challenged by the Bronco's quick offensive line. It is definitely a step up in competition for the Huskies.

The Bronco's have a nice stable of wide receivers, and tight ends. Count on slotback Tanyon Bissell to throw a trick pass against Washington on Saturday. Boise will perform more than one trick play this weekend so Washington needs to be prepared by staying home, and not over pursuing.

The multiple offensive schemes of the Broncos are highly creative, leaving opponents off-balance. Junior tailback Ian Johnson is an offense-and-a half, helping to make the Broncos' scoring game second (39.7 PPG) in the nation and the rushing game sixth (214.2 YPG) in 2006.

Boise has added some new schemes this year that supposedly will open up the field, and stretch opposing defenses. The key for Washington is slowing the running game, and putting lots of pressure on Tharp so he isn't able to pick UW apart in the secondary. Even though Syracuse didn't test the UW DB's much last week, choosing to throw underneath, don't expect Boise to do the same thing. They are going to test Washington deep to open up things for Johnson, and the BSU running game.

Boise has the unfair reputation of being a team that survives on trickery, but what they really are is a team the runs the ball up the middle, and dares you to stop them. They are a team that can give you a different look each snap so the element of surprise is always going on with these guys. How does surprise help you? It makes a defense think, rather than react, which slows them down, and leads to frustration.

When Washington has the ball

As Jake Locker goes so will the Washington Huskies. Boise State may stack things up early to contain Lockers running ability, and force him to throw the ball to beat them against their talented defensive backs. Expect Tim Lappano to anticipate this, and bring out a much different game plan early than we saw against Syracuse. Washington ran for 300 yards last week, and Boise is going to try to shut that phase of the game down the best they can.

One thing we haven't seen from Jake yet is the long ball, and he throws a beauty. Expect the long ball to be part of the game plan this weekend as UW tries to stretch the field to loosen things up for the running game. UW does have the ability to break things deep on the Bronco's, and Marcel Reese isolated against their smallish safeties could be fun to watch.

Boise State likes to play a lot of man coverage in the secondary, which will put a lot of emphasis on the receivers to win battles, get off the line of scrimmage and get open. "We have to step up and defeat man coverage,'' Tim Lappano said on Monday, adding that's something the Huskies have struggled to do at times the past few years. UW's receivers have been blocking well down field, and have been more physical than in recent years, so Saturday will be another test for them to see how much they have progressed. Boise's man coverage will also be more of a challenge for Jake Locker who will be forced to make more difficult throws than he did last week. Expect the Bronco DB's to be very active with their hands, and try to jam our receivers at the line of scrimmage.

The large Husky offensive line should have the edge against the smaller Bronco DL. Louis Rankin needs to keep the power running game going this week for Washington to have success, and continue to take the pressure off Locker. UW only used around 10% of it's offense against Syracuse last week, so they shouldn't have a problem showing Boise some stuff they haven't seen yet. Once Washington gets it's skill players isolated against Boise's smaller, and inexperienced LB's, UW should be able to move the ball with little problem just like last week.

Intangibles

Boise State has no problem opening up it's bag of tricks, especially against a big name opponent like Washington. Expect the Bronco's to strike early, and often with trick plays to keep Washington off balance.

The Washington kicking game is much stronger than advertised. Ballman was terrific punting the ball last weekend showing great hang time, distance, and touch. He also has the ability to kick it out of the end zone on kickoffs with the wind behind his back. Perkins didn't get the chance to kick a field goal, but he looked strong, and accurate doing the PAT's. Perkins thinks he can hit from 55, and in. Last week the game was played in a dome which is a kickers friend, this week they have the unpredictable breezes of Lake Washington to deal with.

The 13th player needs to show up at Husky Stadium. Noise really helps to disrupt an opposing offense. Husky Stadium should be very loud on Saturday, and we have seen what it can do to very good visiting football teams. Who can forget the beating they put on Miami's Ken Dorsey? UW, and it's fans needs to do the same thing to Taylor Tharp on Saturday.

The weather won't be a huge factor in this one as the temperature should be around 80 degrees at kickoff with no rain in the current forecast.

UW coach Ken Baer told the Seattle Times, Bob Condotta that the coaches did a three-game film breakdown of Boise State and that the Broncos showed 35 different formations. Baer said BSU shows all those formations to put defenses in a bad position and create big plays. There's just a lot of stuff to prepare for.'' Baer said discipline will be a key this week in defending all of different looks, though he said that's always a key. "If you worry about it too much, you play slow, and non-aggressive."

CB Byron Davenport is back this week and will play. This gives UW a lot more depth, and certainly more experience in nickle, and dime packages.

What Boise does best is cause confusion with it's multiple sets. All the different looks make defense think, rather than react, and it can negate advantages in size, and speed.

Why Washington Will Win

Washington simply has better, faster, and bigger athletes, plus the extremely noisy home field advantage. Husky Stadium is a tough place for anyone to play, and the Bronco's are going to be in for a surprise early when the noise picks up when they are on offense, it can get deafening out there.

Jake Locker is going to be one of the best QB's in the country by the end of the year, and he just might be one of the better one's right now. His debut performance on the road was truly a thing of beauty, and long time observers of Husky football have to go back all the way to Chris Chandler to find something that closely equals it. Lockers debut just may have been the best all time of any Husky QB including Sonny Sixkiller.

One more thing on Locker, he doesn't make a lot of mistakes, but he is going to have more of a challenge throwing against Boise's man coverage. The throws will be at lower percentage of completion than they were last week on paper.

Washington has the ability this year to put together long time consuming drives, and also score in the red zone which is a part of their game that has been lacking since Tuiasosopo left. Scoring efficiency inside the twenty is a huge improvement this year. UW was very effective in picking up first downs in short yardage situations last week.

The Washington defensive line is good, mucn better than even people thought. Imagine what they will be able to do with some help with more aggressive schemes. The Huskies dominated, keeping it vanilla last week. Look for them to show more against the Broncos.

Caesar Rayford simply can't be blocked, it is a shame that Gilbertson wasted his redshirt year for little reason, of course it is a shame that Gilby was ever named head coach in the first place. Seven sacks against anyone without stunts is impressive. Rayford when teamed with Teo Nesheim, Gunheim, and Stevens gives UW it's best pass rush in a decade. Simply put, these guys can move.

UW only picked up only one turnover last weekend, and then they promptly drove it in for a score, we need more of that this week. Boise will try to stretch the field more which will mean the QB will spend more time in the pocket, and UW will have more of an opportunity to make some defensive grabs with the pressure the UW defensive line will provide. the longer the ball is in the air, the better the chance it can be picked off.

If you stop Ian Johnson, you pretty much stop Boise State. To me they resemble Oregon State with Yvenson Bernard, with a better quarterback. Defensively though their front seven is where the weakness is, and it is an area UW needs to exploit to win.

Why Boise State Will Win

Boise State will win the game if they can keep UW off balance, and get their power running game going. If they are able to keep UW guessing all day by using a blend of trick plays, and a strong running game, it will open up the passing lanes for the Bronco's who like to stretch the field. Boise has a very good offensive line, and one legit All American left tackle. The Broncos are smallish by Pac Ten standards, but they have great execution, and quickness. If they are able to hold the UW defensive line out of their backfield they have a good chance to win the game.

Washington once again needs to watch out for trick plays. Boise is very good at trick plays, and if you spot them an early TD, or two, you can end up in trouble quickly, just ask Bob Stoops. Staying home and not being sucked in is the best way to protect against them.

Syracuse really didn't test UW's young DB's last Friday. Don't expect Boise State not to do that. They are too well coached to pass up the opportunity. The UW CB's, especially McDowell, and Davenport are going to get a workout on Saturday.

On defense the Bronco's have their hands full with Locker, and company. They will try to negate the advantage Locker brings to the game early by bringing as many as eight men up to the line of scrimmage to stop him. If they stop him running that means they have to stop him throwing the ball. As we saw last weekend he doesn't have a lot of weakness throwing the ball, and he is only going to get better week to week. The key for Boise is to force the young QB into making mistakes.

If you stop Locker, you can stop Washington, but can they stop him in every facet of the game?

We find out on Saturday afternoon.

What Do I Think?

I think Washington is going to win this one by two touchdowns. I don't think Boise State will be able to stop Jake Locker. If you line eight up front to stop him, he is going to burn you deep, and often. When you try to stop that, he will run on you all day.

Louis Rankin is an excellent sidekick, and he will continue his strong start against the Bronco's. Look for UW to show a lot more schemes on both sides of the ball this week. UW just might have a trick or two of it's own up there sleaves to keep Boise State honest.

The UW crowd is going to get into this game early, and they are as hungry as the players are. It should be a full house in Montlake this weekend, and it is going to prove very distracting for the Bronco's. Once again this isn't 2006, it is 2007, and Boise State while good, isn't as strong a team as they were last season.

Washington by two touchdowns!

Pac Ten Alley

Washington came out of the Syracuse game in pretty good shape last week injury wise. One exception was at FB where Luke Kravitz picked up a hand injury which will keep him out of the lineup for a week, or two. Frosh MLB Austin Sylvester who played on special teams last week is going to move over to FB for a week, or two till Kravitz gets back. Kravitz broke a bone in his left hand while making a block Friday against Syracuse.

Byron Davenport is back, and will play against Boise State on Saturday. Vonzell McDowell will continue to start based on his strong debut against the Orange, but you are going to see plenty of Davenport as he works himself back into game shape. Davenport's return is an added plus to a depth challenged, but talented unit. Tough to tell Vonzell was a frosh last week since he played better than most UW CB's have played over the last 5-6 years in his debut. Guard Matt Sedillo and WR Cody Ellis should also be back this week from injuries.

The Pepsi Players of the Week were RB Louis Rankin (offense), DE Daniel Te'o-Nesheim (defense) and punter/kicker Jared Ballman (special teams). The scout team Players of the Week were TE Romeo Savant (offense and special teams) and DE De'Shon Matthews (defense). On kickoffs Ballman averaged 64.6 yards on seven kicks. He also averaged 41.2 net yards on four punts. Great start for the junior from San Diego.

Lappano said the tight ends weren't intended to be a major part of the game plan against Syracuse and that the team then kept a lot of things under wraps once the game began to get out of hand. He indicated to expect more use of the TEs and both the receivers in the offense this week.

Nathan Ware who runs the PI Dawg Blawg has unveiled a new feature that will appear every Monday called the Monday Morning Longsnapper. Make sure you visit Jason during the week. He is a great writer, fine analyst, and writes a great blog.

The title is a tribute to my favorite football writer – Peter King of SI – who writes his famous Monday Morning Quarterback column. Of course, I'm still Peter-King-in-diapers and - since he took the quarterback position - I'll stick with longsnapper which is probably about where I belong.

This week we get his take on the Appalachian State upset, and his recap of the Pac Ten. He also has his first Pac Ten power rating of the season. He has the Huskies 7th, but I would probably go with 5th even though we have to play someone better than Syracuse to deserve that lofty middle of the road status.

I hate it. I hate that power teams like Michigan even play schools like AppState. It cheapens college football. They don't deserve to be on the same field as the storied Wolverines and – let's face it – they got lucky. I hate that Michigan even put themselves in this position.

Tickets are still available for the clash with Boise State. If you are in the Seattle area try to buy them up so those obnoxious blue, and orange people don't get any. Once again, a big key to victory this weekend will be crowd noise. Husky Stadium can get up to 135 decibels, and that just happens to be past the threshold of pain. Just ask former Miami QB Ken Dorsey if the noise makes any difference?

Art Thiel of the PI is one of the greatest sports writers in the history of the Pacific Northwest. He churned out his classic this morning concerning the Husky Crew.

The night after quarterback Jake Locker ascended into Valhalla via Syracuse, N.Y., the Huskies men's crew figuratively set the Moscow River ablaze and, in the shadow of the Kremlin, was hailed by thousands of Russians as sporting conquerors.

Congratulations to Coach Ernst and the Husky Crew, you make us all proud to be Huskies.

Special Mention

I would like to shout out to Prrbrr, and Hair of the Dawg for all of their support since I started the blog over a year ago. Like anything new it started kind of slowly, and there were some weeks when it was only the three of us. I always felt that if I was consistent, and if the Huskies started improving, the blog would catch on with a bigger audience. So thanks to everyone who checks in each week, and a special thanks to all of you who take the time to post! If you have any suggestions on how to make the blog better, just let me know.

Pac Ten Alley

Lets take a walk down the coast to see what the neighbors, and our out of conference opponents are up to.

A picture can tell a thousand words, and the Orange 44 Blog resorts to photos of frustration after last weeks romp by UW over Syracuse. We are going to be leaving Syracuse in our rear view mirror for the rest of the season because there is just too much suffering going on over there.

Jake Locker is not Superman. Neither is Louis Rankin. But the Orange defense made them look superhuman Friday night.

Boise State beat writers comment on the new veil of secrecy at Boise State and the reasons why.

To be honest, this is the first time I’d heard about such a policy, and I do not know Petersen’s reasons behind the move. Closing practices has hurt us local media slightly, but the team and the head coach are still readily available to us. Would I be disappointed not to talk to any Washington players? Sure…but I’m sure Petersen has plenty of reasons, and I’ll see tomorrow, possibly, why.

Ohio State got a lot of positive contributions from it's freshman class in the opener.

The freshman members of the Ohio State football team had a simple goal heading into the season opener."We just wanted to go out there and play, and try to contribute to the team," running back Brandon Saine said. Too bad they couldn't count their contributions as tax write-offs; consider these: Saine and receivers Dane Sanzenbacher and Taurian Washington totaled 18 points on touchdowns in the 38-6 win over Youngstown State. Cameron Heyward stepped in for defensive end Lawrence Wilson when Wilson went down with a broken right leg that will keep him out at least six to eight weeks.

Nestor from the UCLA blog isn't that fearful of BYU which is next up for UCLA....Nestor you should be afraid, very afraid since this is the type of game Dorrell comes up short in.

Yeap. No reason a UCLA football team should ever be cowering about the prospect of playing a team from MWC. No matter how many conference championships they win, BYU will always be looking for respect out of MWC. While UCLA should always respect all of their opponents, a team with our tradition should be blowing these kinds of teams out at the Rose Bowl on a regular basis. They have some decent players on defense, they are replacing many starters in their offense. If Dorrell truly has assembled a Pac-10 championship level program in his 5th season in Westwood, Bruins should have no problem handling these guys.

The injury bug has been biting early at USC

The Trojans have an extra week to prepare for their Sept. 15 game at No. 20 Nebraska, and they might need every day between now and then to get healthy. In the week leading up to Saturday night's opener against Idaho, the Trojans lost their starting tailback, a starting receiver, a starting cornerback and their starting center.

Big Jon over at the ASU blog borrowed a little bit from of us last week, and we like that. Dennis Erickson by the way has whipped this team into shape!

Tomey scares the shit out of me. He’ll come to town with a hard-hitting defense, a bevy of trick plays, and confidence in the knowledge that he has owned ASU for the better part of his career. The Spartans are going to be pumped for this one and will want to make a statement against a BCS conference team.

Enjoy the win Michael Wines, but you, and me both know there is trouble in Duckville!

Dennis Dixon (pictured) ran for 141 yards, including an 80-yard scoring dash, to lead Oregon to a 48-27 victory over Houston on Saturday. Dixon also completed nine of 15 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns for the Ducks (1-0) in a wild game that included three touchdowns in less than a minute.

When Arizona changed it's offensive philosophy this Spring I knew they were going to start the year like a vintage model T that had been in the garage twenty years. How many more weeks till basketball season?

It is really easy for some to throw University of Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes under the bus, but after the first game he deserves a better ride than that, doesn’t he?
The Wildcats' new coordinator is obviously taking his hits from many fans on the radio, on Internet message boards and in letters to the Tucson Citizen.

Jon Wilner asks this question...Can Jim Harbaugh coach? I think the answer is yes even though his undermanned squad eventually ran out of steam against UCLA.

To me, the most intriguing question facing Stanford this season is not whether T.C. Ostrander is ready to run the team, or whether the offensive line will cease being offensive, or whether the running game will rise from the dead, or whether the defense will hold opponents under 40.
It’s whether Jim Harbaugh and his staff can coach at this level.

I thought OSU was incredibly one dimensional even though their running game, and defense looked pretty good. One impressive thing I saw from the OSU offensive line was the number of decleats I saw on almost every play. Ute DL's were flying up in the air on every play...that was impressive....now OSU QB Sean Canfield was a completely different story, can you say Achilles heal?

Sean Canfield, Oregon State's starter, went 8-for-19 with 86 yards. Those numbers don't sound like anything special, but if you add in the balls that were dropped by the receivers, those numbers sound a lot better. For Sean's first game in a starting role, these numbers are tolerable. Head Coach Mike Riley would have liked for Sean to have made a few decisions differently, especially the interception he threw to Sean Smith on a deep ball in the third.

The tree sitters are still there in Berkeley, time for a little tear gas. Where is Mike Lude when you need him?

Every college football fan argues about their school having the best, most unique game-day experience. However, Cal may just take the top prize. They already had Tightwad Hill. Now there's Tree City. The more-than 72,000 fans attending the Tennessee-California season-opening football game was greeted by a typical Berkeley event about a dozen residents of the city literally camped in the trees by the stadium. Protesters set up makeshift tree houses and hammocks in the branches to protest the University's plan to remove a 200-year old oak grove in order to renovate the stadium. "They've been there for months," said one unamused Cal official.

WSU goes down to it's first defeat of many this year in the opener to Wisconsin. I have a question...how long does it take for Brinkhater to rename himself Brinklover? Brink may be the only thing to love about this team.

Well, with the exception of a few minor details related to process, the outcome of today’s contest went pretty much as expected. With two exceptions:

1) The Offense was MUCH better than expected.

2) The Defense was MUCH worse than expected.Given that 1 & 2 basically cancel each other out, you have the predicted outcome: we KINDA stayed close, but then got BLOWN out in the 4th quarter.

Hawaii opened up the season against Northern Colorado who is a new member of Division I-AA, what the heck, was Portland State busy?

Still, Brennan said, "I threw some bad balls. The football wasn't coming out clean. I probably did a good job of getting to the right reads. But for some reason, they didn't come out clean. I don't know why."Quarterback coach Dan Morrison said: "Even he knows he could do better. He made some good throws, but he wasn't razor sharp.

Colt Brennan, who went 34 of 40 for 416 yards with 6 touchdowns in the first half, by the way, hate to see him when he is razor sharp.

Husky Highlights via YouTube

I will be experimenting a little with YouTube this week. Click on this link to watch some Husky Highlights from the Syracuse game. This looks pretty good, so as these video's hit the net each week I will be posting them here.

Taking a Look at Boise State

As incredible, and unpredictable as the 2006 campaign was for the Broncos, coach Chris Petersen is doing all he can to keep his players thinking in the here-and-now. For one thing the Bronco's are not letting their players be interviewed by the opposing teams media this season. The idea behind it is after being last years media darlings, they want this years team to live in the present, rather than the immediate past.

Boise State is still living on that hype as they started the week a 4 point favorite over Washington on the road which is something that would have been unheard of until last seasons Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma. The line has been going down since it opened as Husky fans more than likely have been betting on UW which I happen to believe is a good move going into this game.

Boise State in 2007 isn't above reaching into a bag of tricks on offense to even the playing field against stronger BCS opponents. Expect the Bronco's to run a trick play, or two to catch the Huskies off guard on Saturday. I don't think anyone will soon forget the fantastic Statue of Liberty call in last years Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma.

Ian Johnson will be the featured performer for the Broncos again this season, after earning All-WAC First Team honors and a spot on the AP's All-American Third Team as a sophomore. A candidate for All-American recognition again, and even the Heisman Trophy heading into 2007, the elusive Johnson led the nation in scoring with 25 touchdowns a year ago, with his 1,713 yards rushing establishing a new Boise State record.

Senior signal-caller Taylor Tharp, the backup who in the last two seasons has completed 32-of-50 passing for 359 yards and a pair of scores, is the anointed choice to lead the Bronco's multiple offense at QB this year. He looked fine in his debut against I-AA Weber State, but he is going to be seeing a whole different animal in Husky Stadium this Saturday.

Producing the holes up front and keeping whoever might be calling the plays in one piece, All-WAC linemen Ryan Clady and Jeff Cavender help to form one of the toughest and most physical lines in the conference. Senior Tad Miller and junior Andrew Woodruff are also returning starters ready to mix it up in the trenches. They will face a very tough test on Saturday against a very tough veteran Pac Ten defensive line. Washington had no problem picking up seven sacks against Syracuse without using any of their blitzing packages.

Boise State also knows how to play a little defense in one of the pass happiest leagues in the country, however the Bronco's will be in rebuilding mode on that side of the ball.

Boise is missing seven returning starters on the defensive unit heading into 2007, there's little doubt that missing both Korey Hall and Colt Brooks might cause some to second-guess how well the group will perform.

Hall, the WAC's Defensive Player of the Year, now yields his leadership position on the field to defensive back Marty Tadman who, were it not for the play of both Hall and Brooks, would have made several headlines himself a season ago. Tadman finished the campaign second on the team with 67 tackles and tied Hall with six interceptions, making him the nation's active leader in career picks with a total of 12, three of which he has returned for touchdowns. Cornerback Orlando Scandrick will provide plenty of support behind Tadman after placing fourth on the squad with 52 tackles and having broken up six passes. Boise likes to play man, and will give the Huskies a lot of different looks they didn't see last week in Syracuse.

Junior defensive end Mike T. Williams had just 22 tackles in 13 games last year, yet almost a third of those were made in the backfield and four against the quarterback. Although his stats don't stand out as much, the other end position will be handled by senior Nick Schlekeway who led the team with a pair of fumble recoveries.

Linebackers Kyle Gingg and David Shields have some big shoes to fill, but both have plenty of potential. Locker, and Rankin may have another field day against the Boise St LB's this weekend because they are bigger, stronger, and faster than they are.

On special teams the Bronco's start over with a new punter, and kicker. Both seemed to do fine in the Weber State game last week. Returning punts will again fall to Tadman who averaging about eight yards per return in 2006, while Scandrick and Perretta bring experience in kick returns.

Overall expect the Bronco's to field a strong team in 2007. They have a lot of momentum, and the nations longest current winning streak. These kids know how to win, and they aren't afraid of anyone. That being said they are a WAC team, and they aren't even the favorite in their conference this year.

We just saw what happens to good WAC teams who run into middle of the road Pac Ten teams who come out shooting on all cylinders this past weekend when Arizona State easily handled a pretty good San Jose State squad. I am inclined to believe the same type of thing is going to happen in Husky Stadium this weekend.

On Friday, and Saturday I will be running the preview, and match ups for the game. I am going take it all apart to show you why Washington should be victorious this coming weekend. Once again this isn't Syracuse, Washington will be facing a much better coached team with an established system in place, but if UW plays as well as it did last Friday they shouldn't have a lot of trouble with the Bronco's in Husky Stadium.

I expect Washington to be a much better team in week two, and I look for that improvement to continue in large jumps through the early weeks of the season. The largest amount of improvement a college team usually makes is between weeks one, and two.

(Correction, I earlier had John Hellmandollar listed as Fb as per the BSU media guide, but he has graduated. Thanks to the BSU fan who pointed it out!)

Everything you ever wanted to know about Boise State

Boise State was originally founded in 1932 as "Boise Junior College" by the Episcopal Church. After two years the school was independent, and in 1940 it moved to its present site, along the south bank of the Boise River. In 1965 it gained four-year status as "Boise College" with creation of baccalaureate degrees, and in 1969 joined the state system of higher education and was renamed "Boise State College." In 1974 Boise State College gained university status and became "Boise State University." With nearly 18,900 students, Boise State University is the largest institution of higher learning in Idaho.

Boise is the capital and most populous city of the State of Idaho. As of the 2000 census, Boise's population was 185,787. Boise has grown considerably in recent years and is now comparable in size to other mid size cities at the center of their own metropolitan areas in the United States such as Grand Rapids, Des Moines, and Providence.

The Broncos have experienced a great deal of recent football success. Since 1999, the Broncos' record is 86-16 with seven conference titles (Big West Conference 1999-2000, Western Athletic Conference (WAC) 2002-06), and five wins in seven bowl appearances. The Broncos finished the season in the Top 25 polls in 2002 (12th), 2003 (15th), and 2004 (13th), 2006 (5th), and started the 2005 season ranked 18th. The Broncos have had two undefeated regular seasons in the last three years.

During the 2006 season, Boise State won the WAC championship for the fifth straight time and finished the regular season undefeated for the second time in three years. Because of rule changes that made it slightly easier for a "mid-major" school to earn a Bowl Championship Series bid, the Broncos became eligible for a berth after finishing with a #8 national ranking (they needed to finish 12th or higher). The Broncos were selected to play the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl on January 1, 2007. The Broncos became the second team (after the 2004 Utah Utes) from a conference not guaranteed an automatic BCS bid to go to a BCS bowl game. The Broncos defeated the Sooners 43-42 in overtime.

The winning score was a successful two-point conversion by running back Ian Johnson on a variation of the Statue of Liberty play that was made possible after a Hook and Lateral play on 4th-and-18 went for a touchdown to force the game into overtime. On the first play, the Sooners scored on a 25-yard Adrian Peterson run and successfully kicked the point after touchdown. Boise State countered with a trick play that sent starting quarterback Jared Zabransky in motion as a receiver. Running back/receiver Vinny Perretta threw a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Derek Schouman. Zabransky was named the game's offensive Most Valuable Player, while Marty Tadman was selected as defensive Most Valuable Player. Due to the 41-14 loss Ohio State suffered to Florida, Boise State became the only team to finish the 2006 season with an undefeated record and now hold the nation's current longest winning streak at 14 after a win last week over Weber State.

Pac Ten Power Ratings

I will be running the ratings on Monday's this season, but because of the holiday, and our anniversary, I am running them a day late this week.

1. USC....Not exactly impressive on offense yet, but how much do you show everything against Idaho? RB McKnight is going to be real special. The Trojans have the week off before facing Nebraska on the road in a major test. (Holding)

2. California....Great win for the Bears who could play for all the marbles in January. Cal's offense was unstoppable, and they showed tremendous speed. They gave up some points, but was after all Tennessee. (Rising)

3. Arizona State....Erickson is ahead of schedule, Colorado is up next. The Buff''s won a close one over CSU in their opener, but ASU is going to kill them. (Rising)

4. UCLA....Not a great game against Stanford, the Cards stayed in the game way too long. Dorrell isn't a very good coach, and while the team is loaded, expect them to struggle at times. (Falling)

5. Washington....Impressive win, but we will know more about this team after Boise State. Locker looks pretty good doesn't he, but lets see how he looks after the five game opening gauntlet is over. (Rising)

6. Oregon State....They can run, but can they throw? I know Riley can coach, and I know these guys will get better, but they looked too one dimensional for me, and the Utah offense wasn't a tough test for their defense. Yet, maybe one dimension is enough if it is Yvenson Bernard. (Holding)

7. Oregon....Houston put up way too many yards and points on the Ducks. the Ducks pick the wrong week to visit Ann Arbor, look for the fired up, and wounded Wolverines to show no mercy against the porous Duck defense. (Falling)

8. Washington State....Not as bad as expected, but the defense needs a lot of work. Wisconsin is probably going to win the Big Ten this year, so the Cougars have a chance to win some games starting this week against SDSU at home. (Holding)

9. Arizona....Terrible start, and there is still no offensive threat. No doubt about it, Stoops is in trouble, and it is a mystery why you can't get an offense going in a warm weather climate. (Falling)

10. Stanford....Despite the score these guys hung in with UCLA most of the game. Harbaugh already has these guys playing better. Stanford needs 2-3 more recruiting classes to get back where they were under Willingham. Harbaugh just happens to be an excellent recruiter. (Holding)

The Weekly Poll Question

Will Washington win the first two games of the year?

Yes 69% (37 votes)

No 11% (6 votes)

They Split 20% (11 votes)

For the record I voted yes on this one, and after watching the game last Friday I feel pretty secure about the way I voted as I am sure most of you do. We still have Boise State on Saturday, but we are Washington, we should expect to beat WAC teams.

This weeks question:

Will Washington Beat Boise State?

Ok, just a variation on last weeks question, but what a difference a week makes? Last week we thought we would be fortunate to pull out a close one with Syracuse. this week we are riding high after absolutely thrashing an opponent on the road and putting together our most impressive win since the Oregon game in 2003.

This upcoming game of course isn't a gimme, but Boise State needs to show it can stop Jake Locker, and right now I will believe it when I see it. It isn't like I am expecting him to go undefeated over the next four years, but he sure looked good didn't he?

Tough to find a young QB with that many tools.

The Monday Morning Wash

A huge tip of the hat to Washington for an impressive victory over Syracuse, but a very good Boise State team is coming to Husky Stadium this week looking to make their claim as the best program in the Pacific Northwest.

ESPN's broadcast was pretty spotty, especially during the second half when they broke away for the no hitter. Another thing that bugged me was the announcers stopped watching the game and decided to talk about whatever was running through their collective heads in the second half. we certainly didn't need camera shots of the bozo's talking about stuff that none of us cared about.

This of course is a holiday weekend, plus it is the celebration of my first wedding anniversary, so I have to keep it short today, but I will have quite a bit this week leading up to Boise State game.

Pac Ten Recap

I predicted a 10 point Washington win over Syracuse which seemed generous, and was delighted by the 30 point spread. Impressive start by the Huskies.

Oregon had early problems with Houston, but they pulled away to win 48-27. Not a great start for the Ducks keeping the underdog in the game this long, and giving up way too many points at home.

Oregon State handled Utah with relative ease on Thursday, but they looked pretty one dimensional with Canfield at QB. Bernard looks like a Sunday back, and the OSU line was really doing a great job blocking...Ute's were flying everywhere.

UCLA started slow against a weak Stanford team but pulled away in the second half as they wore down the shallow depth of the Cardinal 45-17.

Arizona State started quite a bit stronger than I thought just drubbing San Jose State 45-3. I was hopeful it would take a year for Erickson to get it together down there, but it looks like he has them ready to go from the get go, bad news for the rest of the Pac Ten. I really expected more out of San Jose in this one.

Arizona was favored by the oddsmakers, but as I predicted BYU handled them with no problem, and the new offense failed to surface. Looks like Mike Stoops is on the hot seat. Arizona is headed to the basement once again.

WSU showed some fight against Wisconsin, but the Badgers are way too physical for a doormat Pac Ten squad and prevailed 42-21 after a strong finish in the fourth quarter. Hand it to WSU for making it interesting, but the Badgers with their physical presence are in another league. I predict them by the way to win the Big Ten this year.

The game of the day was Tennessee vs California, and the fans were not dissapointed in this high scoring affair. Cal just had way too much team spped for the Volunteers to handle this year, and pulled away for a 45-31 victory. Cal has an awful lot of speed, you can joke about their defense, but

USC's offense still isn't up to par as they toyed with Idaho winning 38-10. USC is still probably the best team in the country, but Cal is going to give them a run for the money.

Michigan was terrible on Saturday losing to Div IAA Appalachian State at home 34-32. Carr should start looking at some retirement property.

Fat Charlie, and Notre Dame went down to Georgia Tech at home 33-3. I predicted the Irish would win in reversal of the philosophy I had last year when I predicted the Irish to lose each game...it worked, and we will continue to predict Irish victories and hope they continue to lose.

#4 Texas struggled with Arkansas State winning 21-13 in agame that was way closer than expected.

A Correction on the Term Pistol

Now on to Pistol...

I heard someone label it a "Washington Pistol" incorrectly unbeknown to me after the game, and went with it because it sounded so cool, but my actual description of it is all West Virginia Veer. I think we bury the name "Washington Pistol" even though UW will vary how far Locker lines up behind center at times during the year.

You can call it what you would like, Spread, WV Veer, Pistol...etc....but from a descriptive definition it is a triple option type offense run from the shotgun which allows the team to pass without breaking into a different formation to do so. It is an offense designed for a QB who can run, and pass well. You can accurately call the passing formations a spread, and the running parts Veer based.

The true Pistol is what Nevada runs, it is called a pistol because the QB lines up 3-4 yards behind the center. Syracuse actually ran a West Coast pistol on Friday because of the way the QB lined up behind center.

I think we think up a new name for Washington's derivative because as it evolves it will differ from what West Virginia specifically is doing.

Once again I apologize for creating any confusion. I heard the phrase "Washington Pistol" after the game and went with it because it sounded so cool. After further investigation of course it isn't an accurate phrase to describe what we watched on Friday night.

Husky Crew Victorious in Moscow

"The Washington mens' varsity eight beat a field that included Cambridge, Oxford and Moscow State University in the 2007 Moscow Race of Champions on the Moskva River in Russia, according to an account on http://www.huskycrew.com/.

The Huskies, who won the 2007 IRA championship last spring, finished ahead of Cambridge to earn the win Saturday night in Moscow, in a race that was part of the Russian capital's "Day of Moscow" activities, marking the 860th anniversary of the founding of the city."

Willingham, You Sly Old Devil

Just when you thought you knew everything you needed to know about boring, and stoic old Ty Willingham you find out that he pulled the biggest rabbit out of the hat since Jim Owens when he started Sonny Sixkiller against Michigan State in 1970.

In public practices Willingham ran nothing even resembling what the Huskies rolled out last night against Syracuse, and just like 1970, another Northwest legend has been born. So I guess it is time for the media, and other observers (including me) who complained about the secrecy to give Ty the tip of the proverbial hat for pulling it all off. Everyone knew that Locker would be good some day, but certainly not that good from what we had seen in practices. Most observers who did watch practice came away with the feeling that Carl Bonnell looked better than Jake, and was more polished. Perhaps with the old offensive scheme, but certainly not with the "pistol".

The "pistol" as it is known by, is the West Virginia Veer offense which is designed for a QB who can both run it and throw it. For the first time in what seems forever the Huskies won't be running a derivative of the West Coast offense which as we saw from Syracuse last night can be tedious, boring, and overused.

The West Virginia Veer is a triple option offense run out of a shotgun which actually makes it a quadruple option offense because it integrates the passing game with ease. It just happens to be the perfect offense for Washington.UW probably only used about 20% of it's playbook on Friday demolishing Syracuse. When you chart the game you realize that UW just kept running the same stuff over and over until Syracuse stopped it, which they did not.

UW got very conservative in the fourth quarter, in fact they had backup Carl Bonnell running pretty much what most of the media saw in practice to not run the score up to high. What was impressive though is that UW kept moving the ball up the gut with their frosh RB's running dive left, and dive right. What that means is the interior of the line was still giving people room to run.

Year three has been a very important year in the history of Husky football coaches. Jim Owens, and Don James both led their teams to Rose Bowl's in those third years after long UW bowl droughts. DJ often talks about the pressure he felt that year, especially after a humbling 1-3 start. Despite a very supportive AD, Willingham feels the same type of pressure.

Willingham while not expected to lead his program to the Rose Bowl in his third year is expected to show at least considerable improvement, and most fans demand a record over .500 which would result in some type of bowl invitation. Willingham and his squad go up against the toughest schedule in America this year, and the Pac Ten just may be in one of those cycles where it arguably may be the best league in the country. To say the least it is a tall order.

So once again, a tip of the hat to Ty Willingham, that sly old devil! With Tim Lappano, Jake Locker, Louis Rankin, and eighty some other underrated pieces at his disposal, he just reignited interest in a sleeping giant. Pac Ten beware, Washington Husky football is back on the map.